Twilight's Edge
by Inkcharm
Summary: 8/9, angst, Zuko-centric - An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko, damaging him permanently and leaving Katara to deal with the severity of her mistake. - All chapters edited and improved. Final Chapter almost done.
1. Blood

**Titel:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author:** Yumeko Dragonfly  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 1/9

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 1: Blood_

Sleep still hung heavy over the land as the sun began crawling towards the horizon. She peeked over hills and forests and slowly made her way further up, stretching and yawning all the way. Her glow was warm and soft, but she knew it would eventually become stronger as she kept going. This close to the nation that worshipped her as the source of their bending her strength and warmth always reached a peak. Letting her gaze travel the world, fondness seeped into her when she spotted a certain Air Temple, the western one to be precise.

There, she knew, resided a boy holding the power to protect the very land she enjoyed warming each and every day. He was called the Avatar and she had found him a delightful incarnation, filled with joy and laughter despite all the sorrow he had encountered. She liked watching him and his adventures, and more than anything she wished she could talk to the Moon, her sister in spirit, to share the tales of his travels.

However, the Avatar was not the only boy her gaze sought in those ancient ruins. She knew his former title among the mortals, but to her he was the Phoenix, rising from his own ashes more beautiful and awe-inspiring than ever before, and she would call him nothing else. Him she often watched with concern and worry, although now that he was in the Avatar's presence, she felt sure that his path was finally taking the turn it had been supposed to. She approved of the fragile bond they had started to form and would enjoy watching both of them grow and bloom.

Sighing, the sun turned her watchful eyes away, into herself, and let Agni fill her with strength so that she might give her warmth and light to the world.

On the edge of a stone platform within the Western Air Temple stood a boy named Zuko. Previously he had been known as Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, now he was a traitor dressed in prison rags with unruly black hair. At this point in time he had already become the Avatar's firebending teacher and a barely tolerated member of said child's group of friends. He liked to imagine that he was slowly but surely earning himself a place in their midst, but who was he to suppose he even deserved as much?

Golden sunlight caressed his skin, which was less pale and more ashen ever since he had gotten out of the prison cooler on the Boiling Rock. That torture was something he had yet to recover from. Right now his breathing was slow and relaxed as though he was merely sleeping, and an expression of utter peace had stolen itself onto his scarred features. Standing like this he could just imagine life was perfectly fine. He could pretend to be among friends, to be valued for who he was and what he could do, to enjoy life.

However, reality had a way of sneaking up on him, tackling him to the ground and beating him to a bloody pulp.

Zuko felt rather than heard someone approaching. Who could it be? Who would be trying to make his life more miserable today?

Aang? Not likely. He was not usually up that early and he was smart enough not to bug Zuko with his weird games and pranks most of the time, although he made sure to invite the older boy in as much as he could without receiving harsher firebending lessons.

Toph? She kept punching him, hitting him with stones, insulting him, calling him names, pushing him until he snapped. Then she would just laugh at him, as though it was all an enjoyable pastime she could only share with him.

Sokka? The Water Tribe boy had warmed up to him quite a bit after they had been to the Boiling Rock. Zuko was glad to receive a little gratitude for joining the boy on that dangerous quest, gaining nothing from it but helping to free people dear to the other boy and ending up in a damn cooler, fighting his sister and risking his health, life and sanity for strangers. Still, Sokka just enjoyed teasing Zuko a bit too much for the firebender's taste.

Teo, Haru, the Duke? Not very likely. The wheelchair would make more than enough noise to be easily recognizable. Besides, the former two usually did everything they could to stay out of Zuko's way, each fighting not to jump at him for what the Fire Nation had done. And the Duke? Whenever Zuko was around, he would freeze up, stare at the former prince with huge eyes and not move or make any kind of sound.

Katara? Zuko growled, thinking about her. The nerve of that girl! Even now that he had rescued her father she kept mistreating him. So what if he did deserve punishment for his past actions – it was no reason to forget he existed whenever she prepared the food, or to glare at him all the time or to watch his every damn move, or to insist on never leaving him alone with Aang. But he swallowed it, he took every push and pull without complaint, even doing all the horrible chores she could think of as suitable for his hands – well, there might have been a little complaining THERE – and he did not even demand proper meals or his belongings and clothes be treated the same way everyone else's were treated. No, he opted to hang his head in shame and seethe quietly in the few hours at night and before dawn he had to himself.

Suki? Not much contact there, yet, but he did after all burn her village, as she had pointed out so recently. He did not have much hopes of ever developing a lasting friendship with her.

Sighing, Zuko turned around, waiting to see whom of the children it could be. He was surprised to meet Hakoda's eyes, a slight frown on the man's brow and his lips set in a tight line. Great. What had he done to piss off the one person with whom he had no personal history as of yet?

They were both silent as they watched each other. The sun climbed higher, and soon the rest of the group would start waking up. Finally, Hakoda stepped closer and nodded.

"You rise early."

"I do."

Silence again.

"You're tense."

And suddenly there was a fist flying towards Zuko's face. Even through his initial shock, he instinctively deflected the blow and knocked the second punch aimed at his stomach aside with his knee.

"Thought so."

It was then that he saw the smirk on Hakoda's face.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Dad?"

Katara carefully flipped the bread over. She was heating it in a small pan because she had found her companions to like their breakfast warm. Her blue eyes were not fixed on the task at hand, though. Absentmindedly she broke an egg into the second pan and ignored Aang's delight at being able to tend to the flame beneath.

Sokka glanced up and looked around, as Katara had done a hundred times already. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "Probably exploring the temple."

Hakoda was not Haru, Teo and the Duke, though, from whom they were used that sort of behaviour, and Katara was worried. She had only gotten her father back two days ago and the fear of it all being too good to be true was gripping her heart. Too often the happiness coming with her family finally reuniting again had been shattered all too soon.

It was all the Fire Nation's fault.

Zuko was missing as well.

As bitter suspicion hit her, Katara gasped and jumped up, drawing all eyes towards her. Aang even forgot the flame and let it die. "Toph, could you look for my Dad?"

The blind girl had a bored expression on her face, grumbled a bit, but stood up anyway. She brushed some bangs out of her eyes only to have them fall back at once, then stomped her foot. The vibrations rolled through the earth enabling her to detect Hakoda. She had become familiar enough with him to know his vibes.

"He's over at the training platform."

Katara nodded slowly, the frown never leaving her face. Her voice was just a little too innocent. "And where would Zuko be?"

Toph turned her head towards Katara. She felt were this was heading, yet she could do nothing to prevent the outburst already boiling inside the waterbender's heart. When would the Sugar Queen learn? "With him"

"I KNEW IT!"

And with that, Katara took off towards the training grounds, leaving everyone but Toph stunned and confused. The earthbender waited for a few seconds and when no one moved she felt she had to explain that "Katara's going to kill him, you know? Again."

The others froze, then there were some mumbles of "yeah, right" and "she sure will". The constant bickering between Zuko and Katara left them largely bored instead of worried. Aang, Sokka and Suki were the only ones to share a quick glance before following Katara.

Silence settled again. The Duke glanced around.

"So, who's making breakfast now?"

* * *

She ran as though her life depended on it. But it was not her own life hanging in the balance, it was her father's. Somehow that seemed even more important. She had told him she would end his destiny if he stepped out of line. Visions of her father stumbling back from hissing flames tormented Katara and she pushed herself to run faster. There was nothing holding her back now. If there was anything going on, anything at all that put her father in danger...

Fury gripped her heart and with a few more stumbling steps she made it to the training grounds and froze.

They were fighting.

Chests bare and heaving from exertion they continued to let their fists and feet fly at each other, not noticing her. It was brutal. The sound of skin hitting skin, panting, frustrated grunts and the occasional hiss when a sore spot was hit a second time filled the platform.

"STOP!" she yelled and before she could think twice about it her anger unleashed itself. Traitorous prince, foolish friends - they had all endangered her father by trusting him. Why her father? Why could he not have turned on her, for her waterbending was more of a match to his fire than her father could ever hope to be, great warrior or not.

Both of them froze in midstrike and looked at her, dumbfounded.

"Katara?" was all Hakoda could whisper, seeing his daughter, his beloved child, the spitting image of his late wafe, though her face was twisted with fury, a water whip curling around her. What was going on?

Not having been around for much of Katara's history with Zuko, Hakoda did not think to step between the children, and Zuko himself, his concentration having been on the man from the Water Tribe alone for a while now in a place where he was supposed to be safe, was not fast enough.

Katara's water whip had gained a few additions since they had last fought, Zuko noticed in that bizarre moment when time seems to stand still and you can process everything with startling quality before reality blurs and leaves you bleeding. Tiny frozen shards ripped into his face, searing pain exploded, he heard someone scream – himself? – then there was darkness, warm and wet, as he hid is face in his hands and sunk to his knees.

Hakoda stepped forward now and grabbed Katara's shoulders gently, though his face was disapproving. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked sternly and she could only blink. This was not what she had expected.

"He… he ATTACKED you!" Her shaking finger was pointing at the prince. Why wasn't he getting up, wasn't yelling, wasn't proving that she had not really hit him that hard? There was probably a light stinging where the whip had made contact, but there was no need to act all wounded. She hadn't been that out of control, had only meant to scare him away from her father.

Or had she?

Hakoda just shook his head. "Do you know where we are?"

Katara blinked. "The… training grounds."

"And why else would we be here if not to train? Both of us needed to work out some and I figured I could show the youngster over there some good old tricks." Hakoda smiled. "He's good. For a prince, that is."

"I… I thought…" Katara swallowed. Oh, he would never let her forget that. Still, her attacking him had been justified, right? After all, he knew she was expecting him to step out of line, he knew she kept watching for signs of that. So, basically, it was his fault to begin with. Wasn't it? Katara opted to glare at her father – lovingly, if one could glare lovingly. "I was just afraid he might be attacking you. He still is Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, after all."

A small sigh escaped Hakoda. He could see where his daughter was coming from, but right now he had trouble finding the right words to soothe her irrational anger. Yes, it had been innocent sparring, but he could also understand how it must have looked like a full blown fight from her point of view. Oh, his daughter, his sweet child, who was scarred so much that she saw evil much too easily.

Finally Aang, Sokka und Suki arrived, nearly crashing into Katara from behind in their attempt to prevent – what?

Heavily breathing – with the exception of Sokka's girl, of course, which made Hakoda oddly proud – they rushed into a string of words.

"Katara, you need to…"

"I'm sure it's not…"

"Try not to kill him, when you smack him."

"… what it looks like."

"… step back."

He held up a hand, mesmerized at how fast the words died down and four pairs of large eyes were turned to him in expectation of guidance and wise words and whatever else children expected from adults.

"Everything is fine. Nothing happened. We were sparring. Nobody got hurt."

Suki raised an eyebrow and pointed behind Hakoda and Katara at Zuko, who was still clutching his face with shaking hands. "If nobody got hurt, then why is Zuko bleeding?"

Hakoda whirled around.

Blood was running through Zuko's pale fingers, drenching the earth beneath him dark red. Before he could even spare a thought as to what might have happened, Hakoda was kneeling in front of the boy, whispering soothingly, prying his shaking hands away from his face to get a look at the damage that had been done.

For a surreal moment Hakoda found himself wondering in morbid fascination whether Katara's water whip had managed to slice the skin from Zuko's features, because all he could see was the wet redness of blood covering the outlines of what might have been a face.

* * *

_Yeah, that was that. Done. Over._

_No, of course not, there's more to come. Is Zuko damaged beyond repair? How will this event affect the group?_

_Stay tuned for more and please remember to drop a review in the meantime._

_Yours,_

_Ink_


	2. Pain

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author:** Yumeko Dragonfly  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood,  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 2/9

**A/N:** First of all – THANK you so much for all those lovely reviews! It gave me a thrill to see how many reviews I got, and in such a short time, and for such a tiny little chapter! You are all wonderful, so I can't wait to see your reactions to the following chapter.

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 2: Pain_

For a moment that was both too short and endlessly long, Hakoda was frozen. His hands still held Zuko's shaking ones and his eyes could only see the blood running freely over the boy's scarred face. But being the seasoned warrior he was, Hakoda got over the initial surprise quickly and took a firm hold of Zuko's chin.

"Listen to me, and only to me. You will stay calm and it will be alright."

He was relieved to see Zuko nodding. The boy made an effort to stop his hands from shaking and keep a straight face, though his eyes were closed and his lips were set in a tight line from the pain. At heart, though, he was a warrior, and as such he knew that panicking now or giving in to his pain would only make matters that much worse.

"Katara I need…"

Hakoda turned around, expecting to find his daughter there at hand with her healing skills. However, Katara was gone and the three remaining children looked as confused as he felt. He could not dwell on this new mystery in his daughter's behaviour, though. Tending to the wounded firebender was more important for now.

"Aang, go and look for Katara. Tell her I need her here." He hesitated, then made up his mind. "Tell her no one blames her. I'm not angry, not disappointed, not whatever she fears I may be."

The airbender nodded and sprinted off, worry making his feet all but fly in search of his lost friend. Hakoda was well aware of the tender feelings the Avatar harboured for his daughter and hadn't quite decided whether this was a good thing or not. However, this was neither the time nor the place to dwell on this matter.

Sokka kneeled with them, but Suki was gone. "Water and clean clothes", his son explained simply and Hakoda nodded. Suki was a smart girl, a warrior, and just like him she would know how to treat battle wounds. Just like Sokka, Hakoda realized now, because his son had grown to be a true warrior as well.

Gently he pushed the blood soaked bangs from Zuko's eyes and whispered calming words. Sokka handed him a small water skin, not nearly enough to wash the whole face, but it was a start. "I'm going to start cleaning your face. It might sting", he announced, then carefully poured some water on the boy's forehead after he received an answering nod.

There was no way to tell the extent of the injury yet, for even shallow cuts on the face would bleed strongly. Hakoda hoped for both Zuko's and Katara's sake that there was no serious damage. He knew his daughter well; she would never forgive herself if she had seriously wounded the boy, justified as her attack had seemed to herself at the time. Was that why she had run off when Suki had pointed out Zuko's injury?

By the time the Kyoshi warrior returned with more water and a clean cloth, enough blood had been washed away to see some pale skin again. Carefully Sokka and Hakoda lowered Zuko to the ground. The amber eyes were pressed tightly together and the lips were bloodless and thin, the only signs of discomfort the young firebender would show. He was a strong one, Hakoda realized, and he would pull through a lot worse. Come to think of it, he had probably done so in the past already, judging by the size of the scar stretching over the left side of his face. Zuko kept flinching slightly every time Hakoda brushed over the skin there.

"Take a sip", he murmured and helped the boy to drink a few sips of water, before he set him back down and used the cloth to clean off the remaining blood. It was tiresome work for whenever he wiped the blood from one tiny cut it would well up again almost immediately. It was a good thing Suki had thought to bring bandages and Katara's healing salve, too.

Suki carefully spread some of the lotion on the small cuts and quite a huge drop of it on Zuko's nose, grinning. Hakoda smiled as the boy made an unwilling yet amused sound at the back of his throat, slightly annoyed and surprised but otherwise reacting to the teasing just as Hakoda had hoped. In the end, all children were the same like that. Distract them and their pain becomes that much more bearable to them. Zuko would be fine. Some shallow cuts on his face that would heal in no time and he probably was in shock a little from all the blood and the sudden attack. Nothing serious.

Everything was fine.

That was what Hakoda thought until he noticed that even now Zuko would not open his eyes and that there was an angry red line running horizontally over his face, crossing both eyes, the bridge of his nose and tearing part of the scar open.

"Open your eyes."

"I don't think I want to."

Zuko's voice was a mere whisper, making Suki und Sokka freeze. They glanced at each other and then at Hakoda. On the Boiling Rock Zuko had put himself into danger without thought and it had almost cost him dearly – for if Sokka had not reached out for him he would have missed the gondola. Not to mention the passion with which he had fought his own sister without hesitation, a fight that could have driven him off the gondola's roof just as easily.

His refusal to open his eyes basically translated into the admission that he felt something was wrong there.

"Hey, I'm not that unpleasant a sight", Sokka tried to joke, and to their surprise Zuko picked it up.

"You did manage to pass as a fire nation prison guard, didn't you?"

At this Sokka narrowed his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "Are you insulting me?"

"Always."

Suki decided to join in there. "You know, I think I might actually make Zuko my personal ally. He shows potential."

"You wouldn't dare!" Sokka exclaimed. His eyes were wide and he looked positively scandalized.

As the two lovers started bickering, Hakoda leaned over Zuko and placed a hand on his cheek. Even through the flesh, so warm he would have thought him feverish if he had not heard of the firebenders' inner flames, he could feel the former prince clenching his teeth. He was in pain, but unwilling to show it.

"Open your eyes", he whispered, too low for Suki and Sokka to hear. "I'm there. Don't worry."

He would practically see the hesitation, the raw fear pulsing through Zuko, even though there was no apparent change in his expression or breathing pattern.

The boy's eyes opened slowly. Before Hakoda could worry about the glimps of tiny shards of ice not quite molten away he got, there was blood gushing over pale skin again and he could not even see the golden irises anymore.

* * *

"Where is Katara?" Hakoda barked as he rushed back into the camp.

He presented quite the sight. He stood tall and strong, eyes flashing dangerously, his face set in grim determination and his shirt covered in blood. In his arms he carried Zuko, who had bandages wrapped around his eyes much to everyone's confusion. There were stains on his cheeks, making him look as though he had cried tears of blood.

Following behind were Suki and Sokka, both wearing equally grim expressions. That above all else told Teo, Haru and the Duke that something was up and stopped them from even considering jokes about Zuko being carried in someone else's arms.

Toph, on the other hand, could feel the trouble in their heartbeats, a heavy rhythm speaking of pain and fear and worry and desperation. There was also helplessness, which worried her most. "Not here", she answered. "She rushed off to the training grounds when she heard you and Zuko were both there." Even being who she was, Toph was quite impressed by the variety of swear words Hakoda muttered under his breath. And then he stormed off, carrying Zuko's frantic heartbeat away and into the temple before she even had a chance to reach out with her senses and assess the firebender's condition.

Toph turned her head towards Suki and Sokka, raising one eyebrow in question.

"It was an accident! She didn't mean to, she would never…"

Suki placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder and waited, until he settled down again. "Hakoda said it was a water whip. Katara obviously came to the training grounds and saw Hakoda and Zuko sparring. Katara thought they were fighting each other and wanted to defend her father. She attacked Zuko."

"A water whip", Sokka explained silently. "I don't think she was aiming for his face. It was an accident."

"Of course it was. Doesn't change the fact that the ice in her whip nearly peeled his face off."

Toph was shocked for a moment, but she could not even question the truth of that statement, for Sokka lunged into a reply much too fast.

"She did not peel his face off!"

"She ripped his scar open and blinded him, Sokka. She wounded the only firebender in our group, she wounded Aang's teacher and she wounded the guy without whom none of us would have made it out of that prison alive and most of all, she wounded him without any reason at all."

Silence fell now, finally. Sokka breathed heavily as he realized that this was true. Katara had overreacted and her strong dislike of Zuko had blinded her judgement so severely it resulted in a heavy injury to someone who had only tried to make things right. His shoulders slumped and Suki, who had been meeting his eyes with a strong glare of her own, shifted her foot slightly, until their bodies touched sidelong. Sokka sighed. The contact was enough to reassure him. They were both right, he realized, him in defending Katara und Suki in pointing out her mistake. Katara had done nothing on purpose, but it did not change the fact that her actions had dire consequences. They needed her to come back. They would not blame her, but they needed her to realize her mistake and help make it better.

"Blinded?"

Toph could not quite believe what she had heard. It had been more of a jumble than an explanation of the events that had transpired, but she could make out the gist of it. Except for that.

"There were ice shards in the water whip", Sokka whispered. "Apparently, some of them got in his eyes." She could feel a slight tremble inside him that stopped when Suki leaned against him a little more. From that alone Toph knew it must have been a jarring sight. "He can't see properly. There was blood all over his eyes. Dad washed it away but could not do anything else. He just wrapped a bandage over Zuko's eyes so that he wouldn't make it worse by trying to see constantly. Zuko said he could make out vague shapes, but it hurt him to try to focus on them…" He shifted. "We need Katara. She could make it all better…. Where IS she?"

Toph was silent for a while, her thoughts whirling, her mind torn. She wanted to see Zuko. He was currently rendered just as blind as herself with the difference that his blindness was new and scared him. On the other hand, she wanted to look for Katara and drag her back by force if necessary so that she could patch the firebender up again. And then she wanted to yell, because she knew she was currently the one who had to do something, seeing as everyone else was in various states of shocks and headlessness.

Help Zuko. Find Katara.

She stomped her foot.

"Aang's by some… lake. Can't feel Katara, though."

Suki scratched her head. "Could you feel her if she was in the water? Swimming, not touching the ground, you know?"

"Probably not since earthbenders are usually not all that good with water. You know."

Suki rolled her eyes. "She's in the water then, probably. Which means Aang is with her. He will make sure she's fine and bring her back." Everyone looked at her – with the exception of Toph, who simply had her head turned Suki's way. "What?"

Sokka grinned. "You're in charge now, you know? Breakfast and stuff."

"And why is that?"

"Girl."

There was a thud. Toph grinned while the other boys present winced in sympathy. No one raised their voice when Suki took command and gave them chores to do. Which left Toph wondering why she felt reluctant to pay a visit to Zuko.

Blind.

She sighed and settled on the ground, deciding to watch the others for now. It was not like Zuko would run off anywhere any time soon.

* * *

Hakoda gently wiped some remaining blood from Zuko's scar and pretended not to notice the tears slipping from underneath the bandage and sliding down pale cheeks, leaving wet trails slightly stained with blood. The firebender was in pain and would not find rest any time soon.

"It will be alright", he whispered.

He knew Zuko did not and could not believe him.

* * *

_TBC_

_So, that was chapter 2. Now, don't worry, there will be more on Katara in chapter 3, coming up soon (I hope)._

_Stay tuned for more!_

_Please leave a review, for those keep me going!_

_Yours,_

_Ink_


	3. Wounds

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author:** Yumeko Dragonfly  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood, angst  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 3/9

**A/N:** Wow - I'm still incredibly amazed by all the reviews and the sheer amount of attention this story is getting. So, even though we're just starting the third round with this, I want to thank you all for the support you have given me so far. I'm really looking forward to further reviews from you guys.  
So, there's a huge "THANK YOU" just for you.  
Yeah, that's right. Specifically YOU.

* * *

**  
Twilight's Edge**_  
Chapter 3: Wounds_

She was floating.

Suspended in a world without gravity Katara floated, eyes closed. Something softened all the sound trying to reach her ears. The world was blue and pleasantly cool and far removed from the troubles of her life. Still they would not let her go and all too soon she became aware of her surroundings again. She had given herself to the illusion of not being there anymore. But she was. This was nothing she could ever escape from.

She had wounded him.

Katara blinked once, surprised to find tears gathering in her blue eyes. It was not right. She would not cry for him.

Blood.

She had not been aiming for his face specifically. She had not been aiming at all. She had not been _thinking_ at all.

He had attacked her father. They had been fighting. Dealing cruel blows. Bare fists and a strange gleam in their eyes.

She had had no _time_ to think it through.

Katara raised her hand out of the water and touched her cheek. It was wet and she was glad that there was no way to tell if those were tears or plain water. She would not cry for him.

What would have happened if her attack hat hit just a little lower? Katara touched her neck. She could have killed him. Maybe she had done something worse than killing him. All that blood dripping from between his fingers. She had only caught a glimpse of his face when her father gently pried his hands away. It had been a horrible sight and it haunted her whenever she closed her eyes now.

She kept them open, fixed on the bright blue sky.

She would not cry for him.

Would she have reacted any differently if he had been sparring with anyone but her father? Probably. Shameful as it was, but that was her reason; her father. Not that there was any way to truly justify her actions. She could only try to explain. It had been because of her father that she had lashed out.

Having lost her mother already, the fear of losing him had gripped her heart like a vile claw. She had been separated from him for such a long time, her family torn apart by the Fire Nation. Over and over Katara had gotten her father back, only to have him leave or be taken shortly after that. She was too happy when Sokka had freed him this time, and would never have been able to stand losing him once again.

Sokka and… him.

He had helped.

He, crown prince of this vicious nation, firebender, nightmare, monster, just as lost as she was herself. Traitor. Victim. She was no longer sure where to place him, what to call him. The world had been perfectly black and white for such a long time, but now she found herself facing shades of grey she did not want to see. In blind panic, she had lashed out and wounded him.

What was she supposed to do now?

Wetness trickled down her face and glided into the lake in which Katara floating, stretched out on her back and facing a peaceful sky that would give no answers.

* * *

Being blind was not a pleasant sensation. That was the first realization that hit Zuko after he had calmed enough to form coherent thoughts other than "Agni I'm blind help me save me do something I don't want to be blind" and more of the same in an endless stream. He was just glad that he had never developed the tendency to share his private thoughts, or else this would have been embarrassing on top of horrifying.

Carefully Zuko lifted a hand and reached for his face, missing it by several inches. So much for coordination when you were unable to see. With more time than he would have considered appropriate he finally located his own face in the eerie darkness.

Zuko could feel smooth skin, then the sudden change to rough scar tissue. He almost pulled back his hand in disgust, but forced himself to go on. The result would have been a straight poke in the eye, he guessed, if he hadn't felt the rough texture of his blindfold first.

Was it alright to call it a blindfold even if it's intent was clearly not to blindfold him? He should probably stick to calling it a bandage. No need to boggle his mind with further complications.

Zuko's fingers slipped underneath the bandage and hesitated.

Hakoda had told him not to take the cloth off under any circumstances, for he feared that the strain to see could do more harm than good. Still. He did remember making out vague shapes, nothing more than differently coloured blotches, when the blood had been cleaned away. Though telling Hakoda that had probably not improved the situation at all.

Slowly Zuko lowered his hand and sighed. He would obey Hakoda's command. The man was a warrior after all and had sure seen many injuries. Of course, he knew what to do. If anyone could help him restore his sight perfectly, it was Hakoda.

Well, and his daughter, Zuko supposed. But she was out of question in this matter. She would never save something as insignificant as his eyes. Or him in generel, for that matter. The firebender's hands curled into fists. What had he done this time? Was sparring now some crime against humanity that gave her the right to go ahead and shred his face to pieces? If Hakoda could find no way to heal him…

He would never see the sun rise again.

He would never see that Avatar kid bend fire, making him proud although he would never admit it.

He would never see the forgiving look in other people's eyes he yearned for so much.

He would never see again.

Zuko rolled onto his side and curled in on himself.

Agni. The pain…

* * *

Why had she run away? Katara tried to find an answer within herself but faced a multitude of options, most of them not remotely reasonable. To run had somehow been her first instinct when she glimpsed the injury she had inflicted.

Was she afraid to face the others after what she had done? No… it could not be that. Aang would be understanding, she was sure of that. He would never judge her too harshly, would know that she had not thought things through when she acted. Of course, he would never truly side with her, and that was a good thing. Her side was the wrong one to take currently.

Or was it?

When had it been decided that Zuko was the victim here? But she knew the answer already and didn't need to ask. It had been decided the moment she had attacked him. Maybe even before that. Maybe he had made himself the victim willingly by joining them. That did not mean, however, that he deserved to be treated as such. He had been at her mercy this whole time.

Thinking back on the way he never fought back she felt like she had been kicking a puppy the whole time. A puppy that had done something utterly wrong and was sincerely sorry. But was a wolf not a wolf, pup or grown up all the same?

She was going in circles.

Back to the reason for running away. This would all take a turn for the better once she had figured it out. Somehow. It had to. It was the only thing she could cling to now.

Aang was not the reason she had run.

Sokka, maybe? He had grown that much closer to Zuko ever since their adventure to the Boiling Rock. It did not stop him from pestering the firebender all the time, but even the rudest remarks had gained a somewhat peaceful notion, somewhat affectionate even. It was the bickering of a sibling, and although she had to admit that it disturbed her, she doubted Sokka would actively choose Zuko over her. One adventure did not make up for a lifetime.

She sure was not afraid of Suki's judgement. She liked the Kyoshi warrior, true, but she had only recently joined their group along with Hakoda, so her opinion did not matter much yet, and Katara could stand her disapproval.

The others – Toph, Teo, Haru and the Duke – had not been present, so it was natural to be less worried about their reactions. Still, could it have been fear of what they would think of her? Katara let their faces pass before her inner eye and furrowed her brows. Clearly not.

Which left Hakoda. No. He was her father and he was the best father in the world, he would never be angry or disappointed because of this. They had talked right after it happened, after all, and he knew what had driven Katara. The slight possibility remained, of course, that seeing the wound could have changed his mind about the incident. Her father had never been truly angry with her before and the prospect truly scared her. He was the one adult she needed these days, he was the only family Sokka and she had left. They had lost him too many times already. The thought of losing him emotionally rather than physically this time settled around her heart and started to squeeze violently. She could just picture her father's eyes, filled with disgust, anger, disappointment, fear because she was so violent, so cruel. And then those eyes changed and turned golden.

She nearly slipped underneath the surface as her first sob escaped. Why, oh why had she gone so wrong?

* * *

Aang sat on the shore of the lake and watched Katara cry. He felt uncomfortable, as though he was intruding on a very private moment. And yet he could not leave, for his heart reached out to Katara and wanted to offer comfort. He was torn between both instincts. His heart, ever in love with this wonderful girl, ached.

Gently he scratched Momo's head. He was currently not giving much thought to Zuko, which was not out of a lack of care, but rather the knowledge that he was in best hands. Hakoda, Sokka and Suki would tend to his wounds and he would be as fine as possible when Katara was in a state of mind again in which she could use her healing powers.

And she would.

Aang was convinced of that. She was a gentle spirit and would not let anyone suffer unnecessarily, not even Zuko. It might take some persuading on his part to get her on the right track, but she would come around.

She was Katara, after all. One misplaced step would not change that. Aang knew that deep within her heart the waterbender knew right from wrong in this situation. Admitting it to herself would be hard, but she had the strength of character to come around on the right side of this.

And so he called out to her with a cheerful voice when her sobs had finally died down, acting as though he had just stumbled upon her hiding place.

* * *

Toph stood in the open doorway to his bedroom and watched him, as much as one could call what she was doing "watching". But what else was it, really? She could tell he was curled up in bed like a child, could feel him shivering, could smell his fear. Oh yes, being blind was scaring the shit out of the firebender, she could tell. What did it feel like, being able to see and then not all of a sudden?

They had said he had been able to make out shapes, but since they had tied something over his eyes it did not really matter. He could not see a thing now, nothing else mattered.

He was like her now.

Only… he was not.

Toph frowned and worried her lower lip between her teeth. How could their situations be so similar and yet so different? She was an earthbender, she could use her abilities to gain a sense of the world, thus enabling her to detect certain things better than others could. She had lived with her blindness for all her life and she took more pride in it than seeing it as a hindrance. She was the Blind Bandit, the best earthbender in the world, the only metalbender.

Zuko, naturally, would not make much of a difference between losing his sight or, say, an arm. It threw him off balance, it made him less effective, he missed it. He had truly lost something important.

Slowly Toph reached upwards, until her hand covered one of her unseeing eyes. For him, such a gesture used to have made a difference. She could only feel the warmth of her own skin. There was no change in the absolute darkness she lived in.

Zuko still had not realized she was there. He could not see her and had no way to tell by other signs that she was there.

They were too different. She could never help him.

Toph nodded to herself, determined that this was sufficient. She had considered helping him, but there was just no use. No way.

Not yet.

* * *

It was horrible.

Zuko had the feeling that he was being watched closely, but without his sight, there was no way to tell if someone was there. The feeling just tingled along his spine, clenched around his heart, confused him and scared him.

Was someone there? Or was he alone… completely and utterly alone, no help close by should he need it? Maybe he was just drifting towards paranoia.

Would they abandon him, now that he had become useless, powerless? He could not teach the Avatar any longer. He could not even assist with the most mundane tasks Katara would be able to think of. He would not even be able to glare back at her. Or could one glare when blind? Zuko did not think so.

Well, truth be told, he could not think very much at all. The searing pain from his face kept him from doing much of it. Each thought pounded through his skull like an explosion.

The darkness was so horribly complete. Had he already lost his sight for good or was it the blindfold? Again, he was tempted to test it by tearing the cloth off his face. But was it worth the risk?

There! Had there not been a shuffle somewhere close by? Zuko fought to sit up and winced, causing every nerve in his face to explode with pain.

"Hello? Is somebody there? … Hakoda? …. Sokka? … … … anybody…?"

There was no answer.

* * *

_Reviews are love!  
Or something like that.  
Please be so kind to drop a review after reading.  
THANK YOU!_

_Yours, _

_Ink  
_


	4. Scratches

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author:** Inkcharm  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood, angst  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 4/9  
**A/N:** I started writing this before Book 3 Ep 16 aired, so any canon-events happening after The Boiling Rock will be ignored for the sake of the storyline.

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 4: Scratches_

The surface was rough and jagged. It was an unnerving feeling to have it gliding along beneath his fingertips. It reminded him of a landscape, valleys and hills and canyons. He leaned closer, wondering how close he'd have to get to feel the coolness of the stone reflected on his face. Unfortunately, though, he still had trouble judging distances and scraped his forehead on the rough texture.

Wincing, Zuko backed away, though he kept his fingertips attached to the wall. He felt like such a fool.

The feeling of claustrophobia and paranoia had been forced down enough for him to feel restless. He did not enjoy lying in bed without any use for so long. So he had started trying to adapt. What use was there in self-pity, right? He could just as well make an attempt to be able to move through his room on his own. He just needed to _do_ something, anything, to prove himself.

So far he had survived, though barely. His shins were throbbing from hitting various objects – the bed itself, a chair, the chest holding his meagre belongings – and he was pretty sure he had knocked out quite a few brain cells, because he kept banging his head against the wall.

Zuko had the mad urge to slip back into the bed, pull the blanket over his head and hide. But he was too proud to do that.

Besides, he shuddered to think that he'd actually have to find his way back to the bed in order to do that.

His not very successful exploring had not improved his situation at all. Of course he knew the approximate dimensions of his room and had an idea of where everything was placed. But somehow, the knowledge that his bed might be and was probably somewhere behind him did not do much to help him at all.

Taking a deep breath, Zuko moved again, sideways, always sideways along the wall. The door should be there… somewhere… and even though he doubted he was capable of actually leaving the room and finding his way out of the temple, he just wanted to reach the door, maybe open it and poke his head out.

There. A crack and then wood. The door.

Now he had to locate the handle. Zuko's fingertips glided downwards, lower, lower, too low. He frowned. There should have been a handle somewhere. His fingers started searching the wood more quickly. It should be somewhere about that height. Frantically his hands moved over the wood until he grabbed the handle finally. Far more to the right than he had thought. Frustration welled up in him. This was so unfair. He wasn't even capable of locating the door handle. How was he supposed to DO anything?

Zuko's fist connected with the wood and he growled. At least the pain from bruising his knuckles distracted him somewhat from the pain that was pulsing through his eyes and face. Angry with himself and Katara and the world, he whirled around and strode back towards the bed.

He stopped himself in the middle of the room.

Had he been striding towards the bed? Zuko frowned. He was pretty sure he had turned around a full 180 degrees, but still. The feeling of disorientation did not cease. He cursed and stretched out both hands, before carefully walking forwards, hoping to feel a wall before he hit something else.

He hit the bed first.

Cursing, Zuko lowered himself onto it slowly and let his fingertips wander down his leg, until he could place his hand over the throbbing bruise.

_Blazing Agni, blast it all to the North Pole and beyond._

Right now he felt the old, familiar anger bubbling inside of him, the desire to set something aflame burning in his mind. Damn the Sun Warriors and the true way of firebending, he felt like he his insides were being scorched from pain and anger and utter _rage_ and frustration.

The door was straight ahead. Zuko got up, rushed towards it, tore it open and was out in the hallway in a matter of seconds. If only he could see!

He turned back to the door, took three steps to the side and placed his hands flat on the wall. Then he backed away, slowly and carefully, until his back touched the opposite wall. He let fire run through his veins and blasted it against the stone full force.

For a moment he thought he could see the flickering flames through the blindfold.

When he realized he had only imagined it, he sank to his knees and slowly curled his hands into fists. Complete and utter darkness. It was just the blindfold. He was not really blind. His vision was impaired, true, but it would heal. Everything would be fine.

Zuko was shaking.

He would not give in to this. He was stronger than that. So he pushed himself to his feet again and held out his hands to steady himself. There, no problem, he just had to stop mentally relying on his vision. It could not be that hard. Still holding his hands out before him he started to walk and corrected his direction when he reached the wall. Then he started walking in a parallel line to it, fingertips always in touch with the rough stone. He would make it. He knew the way outside. He did not need to see the hallways in order to walk through them.

Zuko stumbled and went down when his foot caught on something.

He should have remembered that the ground was uneven.

For quite some time Zuko simply stumbled along, trying to remember which way to turn at each intersection and trying to avoid crashing face-first into the floor again. It did not help the pain much.

Mildly put, the whole affair was more than frustrating. Just yesterday he had been able to walk the way from his room to the platform outside without any trouble whatsoever. There had not even be a reason to think about which way to go. Now he had to stop at every turn and concentrate on remembering the way. It took so horribly long.

Zuko stopped and leaned against the wall. There were no sounds except for his own laboured breathing, his insecure footsteps and their echoes in the empty hallways, all unnaturally loud to his ears. Trembling fingers touched the bandage across his eyes.

He couldn't take this anymore. Making out vague shapes was better than being blind, right? That way, he wouldn't feel all that helpless… right? And it could not do that much irrevocable damage… … right?

Slowly, he pulled the bandage down. His eyes, closed by instinct, since he didn't need them underneath the bandage anyway, fluttered open.

Darkness.

Zuko swallowed. That was not blindness. There was just no light in this corridor. Something warm was running down his cheek. He did not want to know whether it was blood or tears.

His breathing was shaky as he lifted one hand. Just a small flame. The tiniest flicker. It would confirm that he was not really blind. He simply could not be.

Swallowing the irrational fear seeping through his veins, he tapped the source of energy and heat deep within himself. Warmth tingled inside of him, liquid fire ran down his right arm. Zuko relaxed with the familiar feeling and took his time appreciating it. The fire reached his wrist, spread into his hand. He guided it into his index fingertip.

A tiny flame flickered to life.

A scream tore its way violently from his throat. Zuko let the flame die and jumped backwards into the wall. The moment the flame had lit pain had exploded in his eyes, in his head, in his nerves, setting them ablaze with a fire he did not welcome. Screaming and crying, Zuko slid down the wall and pressed his hands against his eyes.

Agni, the PAIN!

It would not stop. It burned inside of him and he knew nothing else anymore.

"No", he whimpered, raking his fingernails over his face, his forehead, his eyes, down his cheeks. He could feel himself tearing the skin, drawing blood, but he did not care, he could not focus, he could not think. There was just the pain, the horrible pain coming from his eyes and searing through his face, through his skull and right into his core, and he needed it to stop right now, right here.

After endless minutes, a different kind of darkness finally took him. With a last tortured sound falling from his lips, Zuko slid sideways and had lost consciousness by the time he hit the ground.

* * *

"Leave me alone."

"We can't, Zuko."

The bandage was back across his face, along with a healing salve for the scratches. Tears and blood had been washed away with great care. Upon waking, Zuko had discovered he was back in his bed – at least, he figured it had to be his bed. He couldn't really tell. For a second he wondered if it had all been a bad dream. And then the horrible pain – though lessened now – had returned and he had registered that someone was in the room with him. At least his other senses were slowly catching up with the lack of sight.

Obviously, the others had heard him screaming and located him quickly enough with Toph's help. They had brought him back into his room and patched him up alright. Now Toph and Suki were with him and refused to back off.

"You need help, Zuko. I know you don't want it, I can even understand, but it doesn't change the fact that you are in no condition to be alone at the moment."

Zuko lay with his back to the girls, curled in on himself.

"I don't want company."

Toph snorted and spoke up. "And I don't want to be stuck in the no-fun-zone. Guess we won't get our will today."

Suki placed a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder and shook her head ever so slightly. Sarcasm would only rile Zuko up further when they needed him to see reason. But she had not lied, she could understand him. Knowing herself, she realized she would probably take things even worse than him. The firebender was confused and hurt to the point that he clamped down on everything and wanted the world to disappear.

"I learned my lesson", Zuko snapped. "Trying to look at things – pain. I get it. Won't try it again. You don't need to babysit me."

"Oh, we don't? So you won't get lost in the temple again?"

"I wasn't lost, I was on my way…"

"To the unstable part of it, yes."

Zuko opened his mouth to answer and then stopped himself. On his way to the unstable part of the temple? Impossible. He was sure he had been on the way out. He knew the way from his room to the outer platforms! There was no way he had been lost, no way he had been heading in the opposite direction.

Or was there? He had been on his way for a curiously long time without coming close enough to the fountain to hear the rushing water.

"Fine", he growled finally, teeth clenched and pride wounded severely once again. "I won't leave the room. I won't move an inch. Now go."

Both Suki and Toph were ready to argue with him, but Hakoda stopped them. He had stood in the doorway for a while in silence. Now he gently pushed the girls from the room and remained standing in the doorway, his gaze resting on Zuko.

"I can hear you breathing, you know?" Zuko remarked. Not only that he had heard two pairs of feet leaving the room, he was also well aware of a third person staying behind. And from the way Suki and Toph had left without arguing he could also guess that the person in the room had to be Hakoda. Damn his luck for getting him stuck with another father-figure. As if the memory of his uncle wasn't enough to torture him.

The mattress dipped, as Hakoda sat down. One of his calloused hands rested on Zuko's bare ankle, giving a light squeeze.

"You're hurting." It was not a question. "You will heal, Zuko. You just need to give it some time. Don't rush it."

Zuko sat up, one hand pressed to the wall for support, balance and in order to not loose orientation again. He turned his head in the general direction of Hakoda's voice. "We don't have time!" he snarled. "The comet isn't going to wait until my eyes decide to work again! The comet isn't going to wait until I quit stumbling around, the comet isn't going to wait until I can teach Aang firebending again!"

"You mean the comet isn't going to wait for you to stop being useless."

For a moment Zuko was silent. Then he just confirmed what Hakoda suspected with a nod. Yes, he did feel useless in this state. How could he not? He couldn't bend properly, he couldn't fight with his swords, he couldn't even leave the room on his own. He was crippled beyond his own comprehension. He did not remember much about waking up after the Agni Kai with his father, but he remembered that the second his terrified scream had echoed through the halls, a dozen servants had been there to tend to his needs. It had in no way taken away the terror of waking with one eye bandaged heavily, but it had eased the feeling of helplessness. Back then, he had been more than willing to let himself be soothed by the presence of servants, believing that no matter what happened, at least he was not completely alone. Of course, that was when he had not yet known about his banishment. However, now he was at a point where others depended on him, and Zuko couldn't burden them by depending on them in turn. The Avatar and his friends had enough to worry about as it was.

They couldn't be bothered with tending to a blind firebender.

"They need to leave immediately", Zuko concluded. "They have to start looking all over for a new firebending teacher. Aang needs to learn so much until he's ready to face my fa-... the Fire Lord and… and…"

Hakoda frowned and reached for Zuko's shoulder. The young firebender went silent and allowed himself to be pushed down again until he rested on his back. "No one is going to leave. No one is going to find a new teacher. Teaching Aang is your responsibility, Zuko. Are you planning on turning your back on the group?"

"What?" Zuko tried to sit up again, only to be held down by a hand on his chest. "You don't understand", he growled. "I can't teach him anymore!"

Hakoda snorted. "Oh yes, I do understand. You have a little injury and you're all too happy to use it in order to back out on your responsibility."

"This is not a little injury", Zuko barked. "I'm blinded!"

"So what. Toph is blind, and she manages."

"Toph's an earthbender. She can see through the earth and she's had all her life to figure out the way not to be impaired by her condition!"

Hakoda had kept one hand on Zuko's ankle and smiled when he could feel the heat the boy's skin was giving off. Zuko was well on his way to slide from mere anger to being downright pissed, which in turn would bring him close to the edge, to the breaking point.

"So. You're saying you're weaker than a little girl. You're saying you're pathetic."

Zuko roared. He twisted his body away from Hakoda's hands on his ankle and chest, and pushed his body into the air. His feet landed on the mattress with both hands balancing him in a crouching position. Not for long. His arms shot forwards and grabbed Hakoda's tunic, yanking him towards Zuko's body, which had managed to stay in balance during the manoeuvre.

"You don't understand!" Zuko yelled. „I don't want to abandon Aang, I don't want to abandon anyone in here! I'm not running from my responsibility! But I can't be a burden to them, not now, defeating the Fire Lord is too important! They cannot be considerate of my condition when the whole world's at stake! What do you think it'd do to them if I just expected them to wait up on me, to tend to me, their former enemy only recently turned an ally, when they have the world to save! I cannot add to THEIR responsibilities right now, I cannot allow myself to weaken the group just because I'm weak myself!" A bloodstained tear slipped down his cheek. "They need to be strong – I can't pull them down! I WON'T pull them down! Can't you see I'm trying to do the right thing here? What is it with all you people refusing to see that?"

Hakoda cleared his throat.

"WHAT?"

"You did a good job there. Pushing me off. Jumping up, crouching on the bed and grabbing me. Almost as if you'd known exactly where to reach. Almost as if you'd gained a sense of your surroundings."

Zuko was stunned into silence. Then, slowly, he let go of Hakoda and wiped his cheek. It was true. He hadn't needed to think about the older man's position. He had grabbed him as he would have done with his sight intact.

How…?

Heat.

Zuko hissed. "You bastard!"

"You're welcome, Zuko."

* * *

„Both are still alive and kicking."

Suki raised an eyebrow. "I hope there's less kicking and more living involved in there."

Toph grinned and leaned back against the fountain. "A little of both, I'd say."

"Ah well. Hakoda knows what he's doing, I guess. Just warn me if one of them decides he can't be bothered with the other at all anymore. Now… guys, attention for a moment."

Suki waited until Sokka, Haru, Teo and the Duke had all gathered by the fountain where she and Toph had settled after leaving Zuko's room. Somehow, with Katara and Hakoda out of the picture, she had been made leader when it came to tending to the group's well being. It was a natural choice, she guessed, as her eyes swept over their small group. They were such a jumbled bunch of kids, and out of those who were present currently, she came closest to being a reasonable mother figure with the additional perk of being a trained warrior. She could do this.

"We need to clear out a new room for Zuko, one that's close to the platform. He is in no condition to stumble around the temple on his own, and we can't babysit him the whole day and night – he doesn't want that, either. That would not be fair to any of us. Now, I think with a few small changes we can all adapt to the situation." Suki looked everyone in the eyes, one after the other. "This is not an easy situation, but we need to remember that it's the hardest for Zuko. He probably is angry with anything and everything right now, including himself. We need to show a little patience – not too much, mind you, we can't have him going berserk for the smallest reasons. But we need to show him that we understand he's feeling off. He's still a part of this group, right? So we need to show him that he's not worth less than before just because his sight will be gone for a while. Now, I'm sure Katara and Aang will be back soon enough. Katara will heal Zuko, then, and he will be back to his old snarling self in less than no time." She grinned and nodded to herself. "So, I don't think it's too much to ask of everyone to be a little considerate for his condition. If each of us just takes one extra step out of their usual ways every day, we'll make the situation a lot easier on Zuko and ultimately on us."

Silence greeted the end of her speech and for a moment she wondered if she had just made a complete fool out of herself. Then Sokka whooped and hugged her. "That's my girl!" he cheered, and the rest joined in.

Yeah, right.

As if there was any way she could ever fail when there was this proud gleam in his eyes.

* * *

Zuko sat on his bed lotus-style. The usually tight line of his mouth was relaxed. He was calm and collected. Very carefully, he started to reach into himself until he brushed that flame deep within. He drew some of it's warmth and then let go of the source. He needed to be careful so that he could to it right on the first try and then work on improving it.

It took some time, but the result was pleasant. Softly stroking the flame, he had managed to make it grow so he could start directing it towards every part of his body. His breathing was calm and even as warmth spread through him, lingering just beneath his skin.

He was fire.

He could do this.

Slowly, he became aware of every part of his body. There was no need to see his limbs. He already knew them by heart and the heat within himself enabled him to envision the outline of his own body without trouble.

A smile tugged at Zuko's lips, but he pushed it down.

That was but a small step.

When the heat was spread evenly in his body, Zuko concentrated on expanding it. Usually, firebenders channelled their flames through hands, feet or even the mouth, three ways that allowed them to use the fire effectively in battle by combining it with martial arts.

This was different. Zuko didn't aim to create flames or even give off heat that others could feel. He was looking for a new perspective. He was looking for a way to replace his sight for the time being.

Of course, he had no trouble detecting Hakoda in the room, for he could still hear him breathing. But that was not the point of this exercise.

The warmth seeped through his skin, moving from the inside to the outside, and expanding further. Every living being and every dead object either had their own source of heat or not, depending on whether it was alive or not. And there it was. He could sense Hakoda – not by listening to his breathing, but by feeling his body temperature. It took quite a while, but with a little concentration he could also make out the true goal of this exercise.

Determined, Zuko got up, which nearly shattered his grasp on the warmth within himself. He stood still for a moment, until he was sure he could hold the energy up. Then he stepped forward, into the middle of the room, stretched out both arms to the sides and started spinning around for a few turns. As soon as he regained his balance, he didn't hesitate, but moved in a certain direction and sat down.

Hakoda smiled when Zuko reached the chair. Yes, he had sat down a little more to the side and to the front than one usually would – which he tried to cover up by clearing his throat and wriggling into position – but it was a better start than even Hakoda had hoped for.

Still, this was a small room with currently only two occupants and barely any objects inside of it, and Zuko had taken quite a long time to accomplish this. Hakoda was positive, that the boy was quite capable of working with this technique to the point where he could move through the temple on his own and be a part of the group's everyday life.

It was just a short-term solution, something to make Zuko feel less helpless.

But would his eyes ever heal? And if not – would he ever be able to bend properly again, to teach Aang and to fight in the upcoming battle?

Hakoda wasn't quite sure whether or not they had enough time left to find the answers.

* * *

_This was, I believe, the longest chapter so far.  
Thank you for reviewing - I hope you enjoyed Chapter 4!  
If you did, please be so kind to leave a review._

_Thanks for your support!_

_Yours,  
Ink_


	5. Bruises

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author: **Inkcharm  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko.  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood, angst, mild swearing,  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 5/9  
**A/N:** I started writing this before Book 3 Ep 16 aired, so any canon-events happening after The Boiling Rock will be ignored for the sake of the storyline.

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 5: Bruises_

"I think we should go back. Not that I want to push you or anything. It's just that… well… I guess they're all worried." Aang risked a sideways glance at Katara. "I don' think we're in too much of a hurry. I mean… those were just scratches in Zuko's face. Right? He's not mortally wounded or anything. So there's not that much of a rush." Another sideways glance. Still no reaction. "But the others are worried about us, I'm sure. And… maybe… we should get back. Katara?"

They sat side by side on a rock rising from the lake. Katara had pulled her legs up to her chest, tightly hugging her knees to herself. Her blue eyes were lowered and she had not even bothered to waterbend herself dry.

Aang was worried. Despite what he told Katara he was pretty worried about the whole situation. It did not really matter whether Zuko was wounded badly or not. If the wound was bad than staying away was horrible enough, but even if it wasn't this would just intensify the animosity between those two.

"You're right."

"Look, Katara, I know you don't want to… I'm what?"

Katara sighed deeply. "I said you're right. We should go back. It's just… I can't."

Carefully Aang reached out and placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. She sounded practically heartbroken. He could not even begin to imagine what this might have done to her. No matter how much she snapped and bristled sometimes, Katara was actually a gentle and compassionate girl, and Aang was sure that she had never meant to hurt Zuko like that. They were all wound up tight – hiding in the Temple, preparing for a showdown that might very well cost them their lives as well as doom the world if they failed. Under other circumstances Aang was sure Katara would have made the effort to remain calm and analyse the situation.

She would not have struck Zuko like that if the situation was just a little different. She would not have wounded him. Not on purpose.

Katara still would not look at him.

"I just… can't go back… I know I should. I should admit that I did something very wrong. I should see if he needs healing. But… I can't."

Katara buried her face in her arms and refused to look up again. Feelings and thoughts tumbled around inside of her, a tangled web of right and wrong, want and need, fear and hope. She felt lost and wished for guidance. But as wise as Aang could be when he wanted to, he was not the person she needed right now. Her father could help. But in order to ask for his advice, she'd have to go back and she just couldn't do that.

Oh, how Zuko would hate her. And who was she to blame him for that? She was horrified by what she had done herself. How could she judge people like Azula and her friends, or Zuko for his past actions for that matter, when she had snapped like that herself? Why had she not stopped to assess the situation properly? And although she could not consider him innocent in general, there was really nothing he had done wrong since joining their group. Nothing to justify her actions, no matter how much a part of her wanted to find a reason for her own behaviour. She was disgusted with herself.

Earlier she had pondered why she had run and why she was afraid to return. Slowly she had started admitting to herself that she was indeed afraid of facing someone.

The mere thought of looking at Zuko's face, full of scratches and bruises from her water whip, sent a shiver down her spine. His golden eyes were always ablaze with a flame that frightened her, for she could not tell what thoughts were running through his head. There was never a moment of peace in those eyes. She knew Zuko was troubled and restless, determined and desperate. The constant blazing in those eyes made it hard to predict him.

Would he snap?

Would he lash out?

Would he attack in order to get back at her?

He was hot-headed and had no self-control. Katara was still not convinced anything had changed in those terms just because he had learned some new firebending style.

Truth was she was afraid of how he'd react to her now. Maybe that was because deep down she knew that for the first time he had all the right in the world to hate her. Maybe because she worried that those swirling golden eyes would harden to cold yellow every time they looked at her.

Maybe he wouldn't attack but would just simply turn away from her. Somehow she felt that would be worse punishment.

She could not return to the others now.

She'd have to look at herself in the mirror and face the truth of her horrible mistake and she did not feel ready for that. It would probably cause her to break down. What if she took her frustration with herself out on _him_ when she wanted to heal his wounds?

At least here she could still tell herself that the attack couldn't have wounded Zuko all that much. Once she returned she might find out she had hurt him in some really horrible way. She would never be able to take that back. Katara had always thought that Zuko had broken every chance of ever gaining her trust again. Now she found herself considering the possibility that she might have shattered the fragile truce between them herself.

Shame and guilt and fear.

She could not go back.

* * *

The tapping was annoying her.

Hakoda had led Zuko out onto the platform earlier, hoping to distract the boy from his pain and worries. It had been a very awkward day from then on. Everyone had constantly been on edge. Toph had soon found herself gritting her teeth in sheer frustration, because she could feel the way everyone was so fake all of a sudden.

The group had turned into her parents for some reason. They called her the blind one and yet none of them could see that Zuko hated all the fussing. Over the past few hours she had noticed them treating the firebender like a fragile babe that needed constant attention and a hand to hold. Toph could feel how the firebender was struggling not to yell at them all.

Zuko suppressed a groan when Suki asked – for the third time in an hour for Agni's sake – whether he would like to get back to his new room. She had no idea how much this pissed him off. Of course, he knew that she only meant to help and make him feel comfortable. And he might have appreciated it if he wasn't in so much pain and if the situation wasn't so damn frustrating.

Why didn't they laugh when he missed his mouth by several inches during a very, very late lunch, managing to smear his cheek with stew? Damn it, he knew they had wanted to laugh, and he wouldn't have minded their good-natured mockery at a prince with stew on his face who couldn't feed himself. Instead, Sokka's amused snort had been stifled quickly and an awkward silence had settled. It was only when he asked for something to wipe his face that everyone exploded into motion, so that he had suddenly found himself being offered not one but five more or less clean cloths.

When Haru had attempted to assist him by wiping his cheek for him he had nearly punched the guy. The nerve of him!

Zuko had agreed to be led outside by Hakoda so that he could give his heat sensing technique another attempt out in the open and see if it was a practicable solution for the time being. The man had even been smart enough not to offer Zuko an arm to hold onto while walking. Instead he had handed the firebender a wooden stick, probably a branch from some tree or another, on which he could lean for support and an improved sense of balance and with which he could navigate around more easily.

Currently, he was tapping the staff on the ground lightly in annoyance, clueless to the fact that he was pissing off Toph with it.

Well, the others had fallen back into their awkward silence for the moment. Maybe he could focus enough to try his sense of heat even with them present. Oh, how he would love to make them feel incredibly stupid by being able to sense them some way or another.

Not bothering to stop the tapping – he found it oddly relaxing in the silence, a way by which he could measure the passing time – Zuko straightened his back.

"Do you need something?"

And he slumped once more.

"No, Haru. I do not", he growled. Silently he plotted singing the earthbender's moustache as soon as he got his sight back or mastered the heat sense well enough to find the other in his sleep and perform such a delicate task.

Or he'd simply pull the mad-with-pain-card and blast Haru from here to the Spirit World and back. It might just work. And it would probably distract him enough from said pain to be able to smile. Maybe he'd even feel good enough for some mocking laughter. Oh yes. He'd like that.

It was hard to fight the urge to reach up and rub a hand over his eyes. The pain radiating from them was horribly intense and pushed him towards an inner edge he'd rather not come in touch with. On the other hand Zuko did not really want to imagine the pain it would cause him if he were to go through with the instinct to touch and rub.

_Tap._

He could feel the stares he received every time one hand slowly rose and then was lowered again. Briefly, Zuko wondered if they'd consider it rude if he asked whether or not they tried making up for his lack of sight by staring so rudely. But he figured that would hurt the children. After all, they did just want to help. Agni, how he wished they'd focus their helper's syndrome elsewhere.

_Tap Tap._

Not that he was ungrateful. Without Hakoda clearing his throat in time he'd probably have walked face first into one of the stone pillars around here. At least he could avoid the fountain on his own, and the other people, and whatever else made some sort of sound that helped him place it in the darkness around him.

_Tap Tap Tap._

If they would just go away he'd be able to try the heat once more without accidentally endangering them. Should he lose his concentration, the heat he guided out of himself as an additional sense might turn into a blazing flame all around him. It was too dangerous. If only they'd notice his silent plea.

"I'm sure Aang and Katara will be back long before nightfall", Sokka announced and failed to initiate any kind of good conversation.

"Yeah", was all Zuko had to offer in return. And the waterbender would SO not laugh lightheartedly at random stew smeared over his face. She'd probably be really pleased with what she had achieved.

Well, that was not exactly fair. In the few days he had already spent with the group he had figured out that she was actually a kind and sweet girl. Somewhere deep, deep down. Unfortunately for him, that kind and sweet girl would go running the other way every time he entered the scene, leaving behind a scary hag who hated his guts. But what else had he expected? He should be used to life being a pain in his royal butt, after all.

_Tap Tap Tap Tap._

The ground jumped at him and punched him skywards. For a curiously long moment Zuko was suspended in mid-air, losing all sense of up and down. Then he was subjected to the very curious sensation of falling without his sight to tell him where the ground was.

The ground reintroduced itself forcefully, accompanied by a sickening splat.

Silence.

Zuko groaned.

Everyone started shouting at once.

"Toph, why did you do that?" "Are you alright, Zuko?" "Let me help you up…" "You hurt him!" "What did he do to you?" "Are you mad?" "That was uncalled for!" "Did you see that flip he did in the air? _Wicked!_" "TOPH!" "That looked kinda painful."

Hands were grabbing his shoulders and arms, pulling and pushing all at once.

"Stop, stop, STOP!" He slammed his fist into the ground and felt a few warning flames lick around his knuckles. The others fell silent once again and backed off.

Carefully moving his arms underneath his body, Zuko pushed himself to his knees and casually brushed off some dust from his shoulder. "Have the desire to get your feet burned again, Toph?" He clenched his teeth in pain. His own voice sounded too loud in his ears.

"Actually", the blind girld drawled, and he could practically hear the smirk on her lips, "I think we should not allow you to slack off. Shouldn't you have been able to avoid that attack?"

He pointed at his own face in an unmistakable gesture. Than he remembered that she couldn't see it. The fact that Sokka felt the need to correct the direction in which his finger was pointing did not help.

There was a sound as if someone had slapped their own forehead and then Suki spoke up. "Both of you, no fighting. Maybe we should all find something to do. Uhm…" She was obviously trying to think of what Katara usually had them do. "Well. Some of us could, you know… do… something with Appa. Like, brush him, maybe? Or… wash him? Uh… oh, I know, we could also go hunting, get something else for dinner for a change. And… ah… well, Aang is not here, so no training."

"Actually, scratch that." Zuko rolled his shoulders. "I'm going to spar with the midget over… there." He kept himself from trying to point in her general direction just in time.

Toph chuckled. "You have no idea where I am, right?"

Zuko huffed. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Were I to throw a fireball at you right now, you couldn't even dodge!"

Shrill laughter reached his ear. "I wouldn't need to, Hothead! You would miss me by several feet!" She snickered some more and made a disgusting grunting noise. At least it helped trying to locate her.

"You think I couldn't take you?"

"I think you're too blind to do that."

He stomped one foot even though he knew it was a very childish gesture. The reward was being punched off his feet by the earth once more. "Stop that!"

"Fight back!"

"ENOUGH!" Suki had moved in between them, although she knew, of course, that this alone wouldn't keep Toph from using earthbending attacks. "You two need to stop! Toph, Zuko has already been wounded severely today. Do you wish to add to that? He can't defend himself properly!"

Alright, that was _so_ the last straw. "Oh, I _CAN'T_?" he snarled. Zuko picked up the staff again and held it in front of him, directly moving towards Suki's hurried explanation that, no, she had meant no offense, of course, but he was blind and… "You think Azula or the Fire Lord will care whether I can see them or not?" It had truly not occurred to him before. He had worried about Aang's training and his ability to fight for the group, but he should have considered the fact that neither his sister nor his father would hesitate to use his weakness to their advantage. He was no mere nuisance to the group in this condition. He endangered them all. Unless he'd be able to fight back.

Suki was stunned for a moment. "You are not seriously considering fighting them like that, are you?"

Toph snorted. "I'm fighting them like that."

"But you're an earthbender. You don't need your sight. Zuko does! He's helpl-OOF!" Suki stumbled sideways in surprise and stared at Zuko, shock written in her eyes.

Zuko casually weighed the staff in his hands. "I'll consider keeping this in addition to my swords", he murmured. Once he had gotten close enough he had simply stretched the staff out horizontally (or what he figured had to be horizontal) and shoved Suki out of his way. "I don't need my sight", he announced with more confidence than he possessed at the moment. "And I will prove it by blasting Blind Girl over there right back into the Earth Kingdom!"

Toph cheered. "That's the spirit, Sparky! Or would you rather go by Stumbly now?"

Hakoda gently grabbed Zuko's shoulders, keeping him from rushing straight ahead, fingers already curling in the universal gesture known as the desire to strangle somebody. "Suki has a point, though. You could seriously wound Zuko, or accidentally push him off the platform."

The latter problem solved itself with a rumbling sound. Zuko couldn't make out what had happened, but Sokka's exclaimed "Wicked!" had him convinced that Toph had used some nice earthbending to keep him from flying into the canyon. Indeed, the earthbender had created a high wall around the platform.

"I will be especially gentle with him", she promised, but somehow that sent a chill down Zuko's spine. Toph was known for showing affection by punching people and subjecting them to other generally rough treatment. He shuddered to think what "gentle" meant in her world.

Still, he would do this. He couldn't let this opportunity pass to vent some of his anger and frustration on someone who wouldn't mother him for doing so, on someone who'd fight back without hesitation.

Without mercy.

He'd just imagine she was Katara or something. Maybe that would even keep him from strangling the waterbender herself if she ever decided to show up again. Besides, the way his body ached from the two hits he had taken, he figured he'd have no time at all to take much notice of his hurting eyes.

Of course, there was always the risk of being beaten into a bloody pulp that wouldn't be able to leave the bed for months. Adrenaline coursed through Zuko. Screw it. He was going to make her regret every single punch, every mistreatment, every suspicious glance, every accusation, every water whip...

Wrong girl.

He couldn't let his anger carry him away. But he could very well use it to put up one hell of a fight.

"What is it going to be, crybaby?"

His answer was a poetic composition of an angry yell and a fireball sent Toph's way.

* * *

"Did you hear that?"

Katara finally looked up, blue eyes wide with fear. Explosions and other sounds of fighting echoes through the air.

"They're under attack! We need to help them!"

Not looking at Aang, Katara sped across the water and ran.

She needed to go back!

* * *

_TBC..._

_Alright-y._

_Next chapter will feature Toph vs. Zuko._

_Anyone else got the feeling that it's going to be painful for Zuko? I think I'll have a lot of fun writing that._

_As always: Reviews are love._

_Yours,  
Inkcharm_


	6. Disability

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author: **Inkcharm  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko. -- Challenged by Toph he throws himself into a fight he can't possibly win. But Zuko is desperate to keep trying hard anyway.  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood, angst, mild swearing  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 6/9  
**A/N:** I started writing this before Book 3 Ep 16 aired, so any canon-events happening after The Boiling Rock will be ignored for the sake of the storyline.

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 6: Disability_

"What is it going to be, crybaby?"

Rage boiled inside of Zuko, rage that poured straight into his palm and was sent flying through the air. Of course, he knew very well that he was supposed to keep his temper in check, but did anyone honestly believe him capable of that after being struck nearly blind by the crazy waterbender, after having to deal with feeling helpless, being fussed over and now this provocation? No, Toph had pushed too hard and now he was going to push back.

It was exactly what she wanted, of course.

"Oh, wow, Sparky. You nearly hit me. The fire almost got close enough for me to feel the heat."

Zuko gritted his teeth. Damn that brat.

"You think I'm going to hold back just because you're blind for the moment? Not gonna happen. So I suggest you don't hold back either."

He wasn't going to. "Back off", he snarled and heard the others' feet shuffling away. Zuko tried to picture the platform, to visualize it, so he'd know where all of them stood. He couldn't risk accidentally sending fire their way. He wasn't about to prove Suki and Hakoda right, who were genuinely worried about his safety.

"There's something else you should know", Toph explained with mocking laughter in her voice. "This is not one of those clean royal duels I'm sure your soft princely butt is used to."

Zuko clenched his shaking hands into fists. What did she know about those so-called clean duels? True, his Agni Kai with Zhao had been a fairly clean duel until the older firebender had the nerve to attack him when his back was turned, which spoiled the whole affair. And then, of course, there was the Agni Kai in which he was supposed to be facing his own father. Zuko resisted the urge to touch his scar, a constant reminder of all that had gone wrong in the past. Royal duels were not clean. Whatever means were necessary to come out on top, you took them. You didn't care for the consequences. You didn't care who got burned. He would never challenge Toph to a royal duel. She, just like the others, deserved something that had not been tainted by the shameful behaviour of others. This, Zuko realized, would be a clean duel, no matter what Toph claimed. They would play with open cards, they would give it everything they've got, but they would not resort to cruelty and backstabbing. A clean duel. Excitement started to settle in Zuko's stomach and he pushed down all the memories of past events to concentrate on this duel with the earthbender.

Toph hopped down from her seat and planted her feet firmly on the ground, elbows held close to her waist and forearms stretched out so that they were parallel to the earth, palms up. She smirked, having felt the transition from tension to excitement in Zuko perfectly. "This is a real fight. That means last man standing wins."

"Well, that just means I can't lose." Zuko carefully balanced himself with the staff as he got in a firebending stance. "No, really. You're not a man after all. You're just a girl."

The following rock hard punch lifted Zuko high enough to give him time for one thought: Provoking Toph might not be the best approach to this. Zuko tried to soften his fall, to roll himself off as he knew he was very capable of. But he could not measure the distance between his body and the earth and so he moved just a bit too late, smacking into the ground with a resounding thud.

Toph shook her head. "Oh, come on. I didn't even move the ground on your way down. How could you have missed it so badly?"

He pulled his legs underneath his body and pushed until he was standing. Zuko had lost all sense of direction now. If he kept Toph talking, though, he might be able to locate her. "Blind!"

"So what?" Her foot slammed down.

Zuko tried summoning up the heat and stretch it out just a little so he'd be able to see the rocks coming, but wasn't fast enough. Without mercy, they hit his legs, sending him to the ground again. Damn that girl's aim. What was it again? Vibrations. She could feel the position of his legs through the vibrations of the earth.

Not the right approach for him. Zuko was a lot, but he was not an earthbender. He would have to keep pushing the heat shield tactic if he wanted to stand a chance. It was the only thing that could replace his sight at the moment. If he felt the unheated earth moving towards him through the heat shield, he'd stand a chance of avoiding the attack. And if he then managed to expand the shield until it hit the earthbender, he could prepare some nasty counter attacks.

Until he figured out how to accomplish that quickly enough, though…

The air was knocked from Zuko's lungs as his body slammed into a wall. Dust and pebbles rained on him.

"I can see you!" Toph snickered. She was mocking him and they both knew it. This was a game for her, and one she could win so easily. Zuko knew she was toying with him. But why? Why not knock him out cold and be done with it? "Wanna know how? Vibrations!" Again, she slammed her foot, and again, he was knocked into the air.

She couldn't feel his vibrations when he was in the air.

"There you…" He could feel one leg giving way when he crashed back onto the platform, but didn't stop to let the pain get to him. Instead he pushed himself away from the ground and in the voice's general direction. "…are?" Toph raised one eyebrow. Oh, Sparky was learning. He touched down onto the ground far more to the left, but also a lot closer to her than before and immediately disappeared again. She would have to make up a new nickname for him if he kept this up, light-footed as he was. When Zuko landed, the distance between them had shrunk to but a few metres. Toph just smirked and waited.

She did not speak. Damn. Zuko had counted on her to give him some clue on her position by speaking up once more. He knew he had gained some ground on her and closed the distance – if he could just get close enough he could use the staff against her or even his bending without the need to aim all that carefully. But he needed another sound, an indication of where she was. Carefully, he stretched out one arm. There was nothing to touch, but he also had not been attacked so far. Zuko pretended to keep searching, as he carefully let the heat pour back into his body and started expanding the shield.

Toph nearly laughed. Did he think he could bend without her noticing? Oh, she felt it the moment he started. His heart was missing one single beat before picking up a different rhythm whenever he bended. The earth rumbled with the flame flickering inside of him. Just as water was fire's opposite, earth was related to it. She had an easy time feeling flames and heat, and had he been bending lightning, she would have felt the sizzling of electric energy, a trickle of it pouring from his body into the ground just like the heat.

What he was doing now, though, had her puzzled. He wasn't even trying to attack, as it had obviously not occurred to him to perk up his ears and listen for her breathing. It wouldn't have been that hard to figure out where she stood, really. Zuko, however, was determinedly taking a detour. Why take the easy way when there was a complicated path, right? Not that she could blame him. He was a rookie in the no-sight field.

It felt like he was creating a bubble around himself. A bubble made from heat.

Toph smirked when the realization hit her. Of course. Zuko was not taking a detour at all; he was just working on copying what she did – using one's own element as a way to see. Where she could pinpoint his location by the fact that he was touching earth, he was attempting to sense her presence through her body temperature.

Smart.

Quickly she stomped her foot. Zuko immediately stopped forming the heat bubble thing and whirled around, aiming in the direction of the sound. Toph could feel the flame in his hand and smirked. A wall slammed into his outstretched arm, spinning Zuko and causing the fireball to go off course by several metres. It exploded upon contact with the canyon's far wall.

Not nearly smart enough.

Zuko groaned and grabbed his shoulder, not able to move his arm properly anymore. It felt unnaturally heavy and any fast or sweeping movements would cause pain to explode in his shoulder. Frustrated, Zuko yelled and cursed, smoke billowing from his flaring nostrils. Damn, he was pissed now. How could she render him even more incapable of fighting that easily?

The spectators found themselves in various states of anxiety. Both Haru and Teo felt a little guilty over actually enjoying the show. It very well looked like Toph would simply beat the crap out of Zuko, and while it was not entirely fair to the former prince, it was also strangely satisfying. Hakoda and Suki were both downright worried about the firebender. They saw both fresh injuries – Zuko was favouring one leg and now his shoulder was obviously hurt – and the only thing that kept them from interfering right away was the knowledge that somehow, this was important both for Toph and Zuko. Sokka had groaned something about "I can't watch this" and hid his face behind his hands. By now, though, he was peeking through his fingers, obviously more interested in the fight than he would have liked to let on.

The Duke was a completely different matter. He stood completely still, arms raised, hands balled into fists. His expression was one of sheer ardour, eyes gleaming, mouth hanging half open. The others briefly wondered what he found so exciting, when suddenly he yelled: "Don't give up, Prince Zuko!"

The cheer caught Zuko off guard like a smack in his blind face. He had been in the middle of making a step backwards, trying to move and build a heat shield at the same time in the hopes of somehow getting the thing up and running before Toph smacked him around again. The sudden yell made him turn his head in the voice's general direction, blush and stumble.

Had that kid – The Duke, he recalled – actually cheered him on just now? Was that some kind of trick? Was he being mocked? But… no. If Zuko was completely honest with himself, the boy had sounded like any other kid cheering on his… idol? Favourite fighter?

The Duke actually wanted him to put up a good fight. The Duke actually cheered for HIM. It was creepy, and yet it made something inside Zuko tingle pleasantly.

The tingle got squashed by a boulder knocking against his sprained ankle, gentle almost, but causing him to stumble and fall just the same.

"Stop pondering your fans, Stumbly." There was laughter in Toph's voice.

Zuko had always had a thing for voices. His mother's voice and been warm and smooth, gentle and sweet. It was a wonderful voice, especially so for a mother, and sometimes in the most bittersweet dreams he could still hear her telling him stories. Uncle Iroh's voice was the voice of his conscience, deep and melodious, throaty and full of wisdom. Ozai's voice was strength and pride and doom. That one time he had agreed to play blind man's bluff with Azula, Ty Lee and Mai, he had found it easy enough to make out each girl's voice individually. Sure, they were all kind of shrill with youth, but still. Azula's voice had been filled with a disdainful sneer and cruel mockery even then, commanding and uncompromising, whereas Ty Lee's had been filled with laughter and a cheeriness that covered up the hint of despair, a voice higher pitched than that of the other two. Mai's voice had been special even in childhood, slightly raspy and throaty like his own; it had always reminded him of velvet and secrecy. His own voice, Zuko had always disliked. In his own ears it sounded too high and raspy at the same time, clashing attributes. His voice would catch in his throat sometimes, and other times it would crack as though he was still undergoing his change of voice. He thought he always sounded rushed and insecure, though in truth he had simply not grown into his voice yet, as other boys' his age still had to grow into their bodies.

Toph's voice was that of a turtleduck deceiving a feline, causing it to jump right into the pond of cold water just to quack about the feline's wet misery. Innocence and cheek, youth and maturity, mockery and good intent, strength and weaknesses carefully hidden away. Zuko liked her voice.

Especially when it told her where she stood.

Toph bit down on her lower lip as soon as the words escaped her mouth. So much for keeping silent and forcing Zuko to refine his hearing, something that would help him any time, even if he got his sight back soon, which Toph dearly hoped. She couldn't stand wondering if this affair would strengthen the fragile bond they had formed upon him joining the group, or if it would put too much of a strain on them.

There it was again. Zuko's heart skipped a tiny beat and she felt the exact moment when the fire left his body. Then it was gone, having passed beyond her way of visualizing, not yet close enough to feel the heat. There. Toph drew up the wall of earth almost too late. She could feel the flames licking the stone, hissing at being blocked, warmth seeping into the earth instantly. The young girl dropped the wall instantly. His aim was improving, at least.

"You almost got her!"

The Duke again. Zuko fought the smile tugging on his mouth. This was serious business, and he needed to concentrate on Toph. It seemed almost as if she knew exactly when he drew the fire up into his palms and let it fly, probably due to the changes happening in his body when he bent fire.

It was then that something occurred to Zuko.

She would be pretty much defenceless if not for the vibrations.

So all he had to do, really, was mess with them. An idea was forming in his head, crazy, but it just might work. It wouldn't hurt to try. At least, he hoped so.

"What is going on here?"

Katara and Aang arrived at the platform then, the waterbender out of breath. Zuko decided to ignore them. It didn't help, though. The next stone pillar sent him crashing into a wall once more, knocking the air from his lungs.

"Are they training? So Zuko's not hurt that badly? Who's winning?" Questions were pouring from Aang's mouth, but Katara just looked at her father.

His eyes were gentle, but grave. Sighing, he placed an arm around his daughter and pulled her close. She knew instantly that something was wrong. Out of the corner of her eye she glanced at Zuko who shakily got to his feet. Katara felt she needed to do something, run over and force him to hold still so she could heal him, tend to all those bruises and the injuries he seemed to have suffered from training.

Oh, she had jumped to conclusions the moment she had seen fire and earth pitched up against each other. She had wanted to interfere at once, not with violence, but just forceful enough to stop those two from hurting each other further. Or rather, to keep Toph from killing Zuko, what she seemed to be doing right now. Maybe it was guilt making her want to help him now, after she had attacked him so cruelly. All she knew was that she needed to get him healed, to confirm that he was alright at once.

Only she couldn't.

The desire to help, to protect, to interfere had burned strongly inside of Katara, but she had been immobilized. Something inside of her had held her back, and she felt horrible for it. This time, at least, she had wanted to interfere with the fight for the right reasons. Or so she thought.

"Dad…"

Hakoda shook his head, but he smiled at her, gentle and saddened. He could see hope in Katara's eyes, a silent plea to tell her everything was alright. But it wasn't, and how was he supposed to break that to her?

Suki decided for him. "Once Zuko is done playing the proud fool and getting himself clobbered to a drooling mess…"

"I am neither proud nor foolish! And she is NOT clobbering me!" Zuko's voice yelled at that, although his protest was lost when Toph's next attack sent him sprawling once more.

The blind earthbender cackled. "You were saying?"

Suki rolled her eyes, deciding to stop caring right away. How could anyone expect her to worry about people who were enjoying their own demise as much as those two were? Usually she would have laughed silently, imagining the look on, say, Katara's face had she said that aloud. Now, though, she needed to say something.

"As soon as Toph is finished clobbering him into a drooling mess, you need to heal him."

There was a slight quaver in Katara's voice. "Yes. He is wounded. His shoulder, his leg…"

"That is not what I meant, and I think you know it. Look at him, Katara. Look properly."

She couldn't. If she turned her head and looked she would have to acknowledge the blindfold and then someone would tell her that those were bloodstained bandages, not just some fancy new training method. Katara couldn't turn her head, for then the reality of something she did not want to face just yet would crash onto her. She looked at Suki and then averted her gaze, not able to look into the Kyoshi warrior's eyes.

"I know", she whispered and tried to figure out why she was feeling so hindered by this. What kept her from facing the truth, from admitting that she had become as misled as Hama?

What kept her from walking up to Zuko and healing him, whether he wanted to or not?

Zuko, however, was oblivious to her struggle. He had not taken much notice of Aang and Katara's arrival, too focused on what he was planning.

He was flat on the ground again, knocked down by yet another boulder. The fight was getting to him, leaving his breathing heavy and uneven and his body aching horribly. The most shameful thing was knowing that Toph was holding back despite what she had told him. If she wasn't she could easily have knocked him out cold long ago.

"Last man standing, remember, Sparky?" Toph smirked. "I don't see you standing. Come on, where's that fighting spirit? Did it go _poof_ just like your teeny tiny camp fires?"

Zuko groaned, fingers moving over the ground. "I think we both know it's only a matter of time. I'm closing in on you." He could hear Toph giving him a huge, fake yawn. And then he felt what he had been looking for. Tiny cracks in the ground. It was an off chance, but it might work. No risk, no fun. The worst she could do was punch his lights out for good as soon as she realized what he was doing. Smirking, Zuko created flames and let them trickle from his fingertips into the cracks.

Toph snorted. What was he up to now? It felt as though he was trying to create something like a fire cushion beneath his body. Another attempt to get off the ground long enough to strike her without being detected? Sokka had mentioned Zuko's crazy sister pulling off something that involved fire and flying, some wicked shit that had left Sokka utterly impressed. Toph remembered Zuko smacking the Water Tribe boy for that, claiming that it was not helpful to idolize the enemy. Which was true, of course, but still, Toph wondered if Zuko was attempting to copy his sister after all. It might not be the worst idea he could have come up with.

Toph only realized she was wrong when it was too late. Suddenly, something hummed in the ground and she couldn't see him anymore. But he had not moved. Something else was throbbing in the ground, causing tiny vibrations of its own, messing with her senses.

Fire.

Zuko cheered triumphantly – in utter silence, of course, he had some dignity left after all – as he noticed his plan working. Toph was swearing silently. It took all his concentration, but tiny flames were crawling through the small gaps in the stone, pulsing with heat. It was more impractical than the heat shield, but it seemed to work against Toph pretty well. Focusing all his will and gritting his teeth with the effort, Zuko send a violent burst of flames down one gap far to his left. With satisfaction he noticed how Toph stomped her foot and cursed when her attack obviously failed to hit.

The flames touched another source of heat, the ground upon which Toph was standing, slightly warmed from her body temperature. Zuko spotted her location at the same time Toph figured out how to separate the fire's pulsing heat from the usual vibrations she could feel. When flames shot out of the ground around her she swore again, even more colourfully this time. Some clothing had caught fire and she quickly hit the flames until they went out. Then she grunted and pulled slabs of stone towards her, arranged them into a circle and sent them crashing onto the floor, extinguishing Zuko's flames.

The firebender groaned in frustration and put his head on his forearms. It had seemed to work so well, but it had also taken too much of his energy, leaving him exhausted and drained.

Toph walked up to him and was almost gentle in earthbending him into an upright position. She punched him on the arm – his good one, thank Agni! – and laughed. "Good one, Sparky. You almost got me there. We'll work on that tomorrow."

Zuko groaned. Everything hurt.

When the others realized the fight was over they walked towards Toph and Zuko. The Duke was ecstatic despite "his" fighter's loss and went to stand right next to him – though with a few metres in between. His was staring at Zuko as usual, only now everyone could guess at the true reason for that.

Katara was the only one who didn't follow suit. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to move. She could only stare at Zuko as he fought to keep upright. She did not rush to him, healing water at the ready, when blood trickled out from underneath the bandage once more.

Katara could only watch, paralyzed, as he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

_TBC..._

_I'm sorry that Chapter 6 is a little behind schedule. I hope it is worth the wait for you!  
Look forward to Chapter 7: Trauma in which, no, Zuko won't feel any better than right now._

_Thank you for reading. Please leave a review!_

_Yours,  
Inkcharm_


	7. Trauma

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author: **Inkcharm  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko. – Wounded in body and spirit, Zuko has to endure treatment for his eyes.  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood, angst, mild swearing  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 7/9  
**A/N:** I started writing this before Book 3 Ep 16 aired, so any canon-events happening after The Boiling Rock might be ignored for the sake of the storyline.

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 7: Trauma_

You might have considered him handsome.

Smooth, pale skin, silky black hair. It was unruly and yet fell into his face in an appealing way. Strong and mysterious. Slightly rebellious, perhaps, but not a player. The curve of his mouth spoke of unhappiness and suggested that his smile might be beautiful if he would only allow it to show. The way he would frown more often than not would have you guess that the first lines on his face would appear between his brows. He seemed calm and controlled, but behind his golden eyes a fire was burning, and you would have known that if the right buttons where pushed he would snap. That wouldn't be pretty. His face spoke of a noble upbringing, but his eyes told the story of a warrior.

You might have wondered why his left eye was narrowing into a slit like that. The skin around that eye darkened, smoking, the smell of burning flesh filling the air. Slowly, the vile mark spread, eating away his soft skin, singing off an eyebrow and large parts of an ear. The freshly burnt flesh darkened further and then scarred, leaving behind an angry red mark that would stay on the once handsome face forever.

The sound of a whiplash. A viciously bleeding line appeared over both eyes, the good one and the one already damaged by events long past. Several small and shallow cuts on the pale skin of his face tore open. In horror you would watch as three small shards were embedded into his eyes. Blood started pouring down his cheeks and he stared at you through unseeing eyes.

You might have considered him appalling.

In horror you watched the handsome young man morph into this, the face an eternal reminder of his mistakes and a past he'd rather forget.

You raised your hand, meaning to reach for him. Your fingertips touched the smooth surface of a mirror. Someone called your name. Startled, you whirled around. Instead of facing your reflection, you were now staring into thick darkness. There was that voice again, but you couldn't see anybody. You raised your hand to call forth a flame, but you couldn't even see your own limbs anymore.

That was when you realized you were as blind as your reflection now.

* * *

When the voice called his name for a third time, Zuko awoke. The pain he had started to feel while hovering in his nightmare was still there, intensifying now that he was fully conscious.

And, of course, there was still the utter darkness pressing down upon him, like a stranger clinging to his body without ever letting go.

"Are you awake?" The voice was gentle, beckoning to him like a gurgling stream on a hot summer's day. It promised to take away the ache, to soothe and to heal, filled with compassion and the strong belief that everything would be alright. Zuko had heard Katara's voice sound like that while talking to him only once before, but he did not want to remember Ba Sing Se now. "You had a nightmare."

Did she think he didn't know that? Why else would he have been faced with those haunting images of himself, why else would he have woken up drenched in cold sweat? The nerve of her.

"Are you… are you in pain? I worked some healing magic on your shoulder and ankle… you should have been more careful. To fight Toph in your condition…"

"This is not just some condition", Zuko snapped. "This is what you did to me."

Katara's voice dropped to a whisper. "I know. I am sorry."

"Sorry for what? Are you sorry for wounding me or are you sorry for attacking me in the first place?"

"I…"

"No. Don't apologize unless you're sure."

"Zuko…" Her hand brushed against his shoulder. It was everything he could do not to flinch, because the touch caught him by surprise. "I didn't…" She sighed. "Let me look at your shoulder and ankle again. Then you should get some rest. We will have to start working on your eyes soon, but… you are worn out. Tomorrow…"

Katara stopped herself, knowing well that there was no need to say anything else. Tension was thick between them, and she found herself hindered by her own guilt. There were no words to express her regrets, and yet his words had confused her. Was she sorry for attacking him or was she sorry for wounding him? The question deserved an honest answer, one she couldn't give right now.

Her fingers were pleasantly cool on his forehead. Lying in bed, Zuko could feel the weariness creeping into his bones again.

"Rest", Katara whispered. "I'll set things right again. I promise."

No matter what stood between them, Katara swore she would do anything to save Zuko's eyes from the damage her actions had caused. It didn't make them friends, it didn't make all the bad things he had done go away, it didn't take back her own mistake, but it was the right thing to do.

* * *

Conversations died down as soon as Katara stepped out of the temple and onto the platform once more. Her companions sat by the fountain, huddling together even though darkness had not yet fallen. Some stared at her, some averted their eyes, and just one spoke up.

The Duke jumped to his feet instantly. "How is the Prince?" he asked, a slight quiver in his voice.

"Resting", Katara replied and sat in between her father and brother. "You can check on him in half an hour, if you want to, but don't disturb him." Her eyes wandered over the group. "His shoulder and ankle will be fine. I… I'm going to see what I can do about his eyes tomorrow."

Hakoda placed an arm around Katara's shoulder and pulled her against his side. She was glad for the contact. "I tried apologizing to him", she murmured. "I don't think he was interested…" It felt strange. His rejection actually hurt. It wasn't supposed to feel like this. What did she care if he forgave her? After all, he was the one who needed to be forgiven for so much more.

Although, truth be told, he had never wounded anyone quite like that. And he was trying to change from being an enemy to the level of ally with much effort, no matter how much she expected to see him fail.

"You know, if I were you, such a response wouldn't surprise me", Toph drawled, turning all heads her direction. The earthbender only smirked. "Well, his head must be all fuzzy still. I smacked him around a whole lot."

Katara frowned. "Yes, I meant to talk to you about that. How could you do that? You actually sparred with him, despite his condition, and you injured him. You should have gone easy on Zuko."

Instead of replying, Toph blew her bangs out of her face only to have them fall right back, and tilted her head. "She did not just say that, right? Clearly, I must have misheard, despite my hearing being better than any of yours." That said, she rose to her feet.

"What are you getting at?" Katara got up as well.

"Oh, just wondering. How do you justify telling me off for helping him deal with the situation? What are the rest of you doing anyway?" Toph snorted. "You cuddle him. You treat him like an invalid. Those of you who don't do that avoid him completely. Can't you see that's not what he wants and needs? Help him deal with it! Poke Sparky a little, let him smack his head against the wall so he figures out a way to avoid that next time around. He's not fragile, and you all should know that. Sparky's a fighter!"

With that said she turned and walked off.

For a moment, Katara was dumbfounded, then the anger that only Toph and Zuko could provoke quite that easily bubbled up inside of her again. "Where do you think you're going, Toph?"

"To bug Sparky. He's not able to sleep anyway."

Gently, Hakoda grasped Katara's hand and pulled her into a sitting position. "Your friend Toph is right, Katara. Our firebender is headstrong and proud, he'd rather be provoked than be treated like a poor victim."

Silence fell once more as everyone was lost in contemplation. Katara sighed. Maybe Toph was right. Maybe Zuko could deal better with being shoved instead of being held, at least when it came to the rest of them. The firebender had been raised differently, had made different experiences when it came to friends and family than the rest of them. Except for Toph, maybe.

Tomorrow was a new day. Katara would make sure to force Zuko into accepting her help when it came to healing, and leave him all the space he needed after that.

* * *

"I know you're there."

Toph grinned and strolled into Zuko's room, plopping down onto the bed. Zuko grunted when she pushed his hips aside in order to have more space.

"Alright, the heat and breathing made you a living being, the heavy footsteps made you an earthbender, but the roughness makes you Toph." Zuko sneered. "I'm still capable of burning off your hair, you know."

"Knock yourself out. Literally. The way I see it, the exhaustion would push you over the edge. Would be fine for me." Her fist connected with his arm, drawing forth another grunt. "All that agony you're radiating drives me nuts."

Through clenched teeth Zuko said: "Everything about me seems to drive you nuts."

"That pretty much sums it up." Toph grinned. "I can tell you're all tense and angsty, Princess."

"Don't call me Princess. And you'd be tense, too, if the crazy waterbender wanted to heal you – after drilling ice shards into your eyes, for crying out loud! Sardonic peasant that she is and all."

"Just make sure to tell her that after she has patched you up, not before." Comfortable silence settled. Zuko pulled one leg up, which prompted Toph to lean against it and put her head on his knee. The firebender frowned, but the gesture was lost on her, of course. "That was some impressive stuff you pulled off earlier, you know?"

Zuko thought back to the fight, especially to his last desperate manoeuvre. That one would have made Uncle proud. A saddening thought. "Thanks. I hope I'll be able to use it on you again in the future."

"You try doing that. I'll just be one step ahead of you again. Still, it wouldn't hurt for you to keep it up." He could feel a finger poking into his side, so he squirmed just a little. She didn't have to know that he was ticklish. Toph was just the person to abuse that knowledge shamelessly. "But I think our little sparring showed the others that you're not made of glass. They'll probably come around to treating you fairly normal again soon."

It was a lie, and Zuko knew it. Of course, he couldn't feel lies the way she did, but her voice was loud and high-pitched enough to carry quite a distance. Not that he had understood a word, but he could just imagine the kind of things she might have told the others. He was glad, somehow, to know she had his back in her own twisted way and had told the others what he had been unable to put in words.

"I don't think you're all that worried about letting Katara work some water bending on your eyes." A small hand found his and squeezed. "It's okay to be scared of losing your sight forever, Sparky. You have grown up with the delusion of needing it. And it's not like you're an awesome earthbender like me, so you'd probably be really screwed up without sight." It was not really what he wanted to hear. "It'll be fine, though. You're not alone." The small hand squeezed way too hard, but somehow, right now, he didn't mind. The discomfort, at least, would distract him from the pain in his eyes, which in turn kept him from falling asleep.

For a while, they just sat like that, lost in complete darkness.

"You know, if you really can't sleep because of the pain I could just…"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

* * *

"Ready?"

"No."

Katara sighed and pulled her hands back. This was not working. She could understand his hesitation, though. From what she had gathered, it was extremely painful for Zuko to remove the bandages and open his eyes.

They had been alone in his room since breakfast. It had been upon Zuko's request that everyone else had left, claiming that he didn't want anyone interfering with the bending required to heal him. Katara suspected that he just didn't want them to see him in pain again, and she could understand that.

The plan was to remove the bandages so that she could have a look at his eyes and judge the situation. Then she would place a water soaked cloth over his eyes, giving him time to recover from the pain. Depending on what she could gather from the first inspection of his eyes, she would heal him. They had no idea yet what damage had been left behind by the melting ice shards. If there was any ice remaining for some reason, she would have to bend it out or allow it to melt down completely. And that wasn't even considering the fact that along with the shards particles of dirt could have easily slipped into his eyes as well. Particles that would have to be removed. This would probably take the better part of the day to accomplish, and both of them knew it would not be pretty.

"Zuko…"

"I'll never be ready." He gritted his teeth, curled his hands into fists and held onto his sheets. Then he nodded.

Carefully, Katara loosened the bandage, hesitated and then pulled it off. Zuko's breathing quickly became erratic, his legs twitched, and, with a strangled sob, he finally closed his eyes and turned his head away. Katara placed the wet cloth over his eyes for some relief and watched the heavy rise and fall of his chest for a while. She felt cold.

The ice had molten away well enough, but she had been able to see something small, tiny even, lodged in his eyes. Two small particles in the right eye, one slightly larger in the left one.

"Zuko… this looks more complicated than I'd thought. I… you won't like hearing this, but I think the shards got something stuck in your eyes. It looks like tiny splinters, maybe dirt or small fragments of wood. The water... was probably not perfectly clean. I think I will need to remove them one at a time. You will have to keep one eye open long enough, then I'll let you rest, and then we'll have to repeat that."

The firebender groaned and shook his head slightly. His headache was worse than ever, the anguish from his eyes pounding straight into his skull. The thought of having something stuck in his eyes was bad enough, imagining something _moving_ in them was worse, but to have to open his eyes and endure the removal three times? No. No way.

Katara frowned and closed her eyes for a moment. "There is no other way. If I pull them out together, the risk of damaging your eyes further will be all the greater." She bit her lip. Usually, she was no one to kick a wounded pup, but if she reminded herself that this was Zuko, the same Zuko who wouldn't have hesitated to stab out Aang's eyes just a few months ago… "Pull yourself together!" she snarled, even though she felt bad for doing so. "You are a proud firebender, a former prince, a warrior. You chased the Avatar all over the world – you won't flinch away from a little pain, will you?"

Zuko bared his teeth in anger. "You are NOT Toph." Which was a sufficient way of telling her to shut the hell up and drop the act. Still, Zuko's whole body shook with the effort of staying still and letting Katara go ahead.

She took a few deep breaths and collected some drops of water from her flask, making sure it was perfectly clean before allowing the water to surround the tiny splinter lodged in his narrow left eye so that she could remove it.

The first attempt to pull it out went wrong in almost all the ways it could have gone wrong. Obviously, the pain of having his eye exposed combined with the agony of not only having a splinter stuck in it, but the shard actually being moved, drove Zuko mad. He bucked, he pressed his face into the pillow, he howled in pain and he set Katara's clothes on fire. The shard was still lodged in Zuko's eye, though it had moved. A bit.

Hakoda insisted on helping out after this incident. He untied his belt, folded it twice and pressed it between the prince's teeth. "Bite down on that", he instructed Zuko as he placed his large hands on the boy's cheeks to keep his head in place.

The plan worked, at least partially. His head held in an iron grip, Zuko could not turn it away, but his whole body trashed all the more violently. His hands clawed at Hakoda's in the desperate attempt to free himself. The horrible scream was muffled by the cloth, but the pain had Zuko blowing flames from his nostrils, which set the belt on fire and scorched Hakoda's hands before the firebender passed out from the pain.

* * *

They sat by the fountain, Katara healing her father's hands, while Aang and Suki quietly debated something. Each of them would occasionally shake or nod their head, both not quite satisfied with whatever they were trying to puzzle out.

"Why don't you just do it now? He's out cold, right?"

Katara shook her head. "It's not that simple, Sokka. We would have to find a way to keep Zuko's eyes open, and while I'm sure you'd enjoy taping his eyelids to his brows, it wouldn't do much good. His body knows itself best, and while he is out he has no way of communicating any reaction to what I'm doing."

Sokka's eyes were almost comically wide. "Reaction? Why would you want to be set on fire again?"

"That's not the point. He can't control the natural instinct to defend himself when he's in pain like that. It must be maddening." She didn't want to think about herself being the cause of such horrible anguish. And she was also the reason he was in this situation in the first place. Not a good train of thought. "But imagine I'm moving the shards the wrong way. Imagine I'd move them in a way that damages his eyes further. How would he tell me, if he wasn't conscious?"

Hakoda nodded. "I see what you mean. Sometimes it is better to treat a wound when the wounded can communicate with you or vice versa in case anything goes wrong. Still, we need to restrain him." He glanced at his now healed hands and winced. "He's got quite the spirit."

Sokka snapped his fingers. "Toph! She could make stone restraints or something. Better than anyone holding the jerkbender down."

"Brilliant! Where is she?"

"I… have no idea. Haru and Teo are off exploring, but I don't think she joined them."

A quick search of the perimeter found Toph sitting on Appa's back. The bison had withdrawn to a far corner of the platform, huddling down and groaning miserably every now and then. Toph and the Duke sat in the large saddle, their legs pulled to their chests and chins resting on their knees.

Katara looked bewildered. "Why are you hiding up here?"

Toph snorted. "Where have you been while Sparky was getting tortured?" Before Katara protested, Toph pointed at her feet. "You have no idea what it was like to feel that pain vibrating all over the place." The earthbender sounded positively forlorn when she added: "The screams are bad enough."

It also explained why the Duke was hiding along with Toph and why even Appa seemed affected. They all liked Zuko, one way or another, and they suffered right along with him.

"Toph, we need your help. He needs to be…"

"I know", Toph snapped. "Best hearing, remember? But the answer is no. Ask Twinkletoes if you need earthbending, but there is no way I am setting a foot on the ground before you're done with him, let alone in his room."

Katara couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But you could help him."

"No, I couldn't! I would only break his bones with the restraints because I couldn't stand the pain! HIS pain, mind you, but it still hurts me, too!"

She left it at that. What point was there? Toph was rock, strong and steadfast and immovable. When Katara suggested the plan to Aang, he beamed.

"I'd be glad to help. Suki and I were trying to come up with any pain-lessening concoctions, but I'm afraid nothing that grows around here is sufficient for any Kyoshi or monk recipe. We thought about mixing some stuff together anyway, but…"

Katara glared at him for the mere idea to tamper with stuff like that, no matter how good the intentions.

"Exactly", Suki said, nodding to Katara. "Lessening his hurt would be great, but we don't want him high. Or poisoned." Thinking about it had been good, though. It had taken their minds away from the screams they had heard earlier.

A while later Katara splashed cold water into Zuko's face until he woke. They knew he was awake enough for another attempt when he snapped at the "Water Tribe peasant" to stop that already and complained about being placed on the floor. Aang carefully bended stone restraints around Zuko's ankles, wrists, stomach and chest. Hakoda once again held the boy's head still. The firebender was already breathing erratically again, panic setting in at the mere prospect of the agony to come. Aang, murmuring reassurances all the while, stayed close and would try to bend any flames Zuko might unintentionally produce.

The first splinter worked fine this time, leaving everybody relieved when it finally came out, although bloodied tears ran down Zuko's cheek once more. Katara carefully covered the eye with a thin coating of healing water until Zuko calmed somewhat.

"It will be alright", she promised and attempted to pull both particles from his right eye.

It was worse now. They were harder to get out, drawing the whole process out longer. Zuko fought the restraints with all his power, chafing his skin on the hard stone. Tears and blood ran freely down his face.

"Stop!" he finally screamed, his voice hoarse and almost beyond recognition. Katara stopped and allowed Zuko to close his eyes. He was sobbing and it was breaking her heart to see him of all people shattering like this.

For a few minutes, his sobs where the only sound in the room. Hakoda stroked sweat-soaked bangs from the boy's face. Aang had placed a hand on Zuko's arm and loosened the restraints again. Katara cleaned his face in silence. When she thought enough time had passed, she suggested continuing. Zuko's reaction surprised her.

"No!" he choked out and shook his head as best as he could in Hakoda's grasp. "No."

"Please, Zuko. I need you to open your eyes."

"I WON'T!" he yelled, closing them even more tightly.

Hakoda's voice was gentle. "You have to."

"NO!" His sobs broke Katara's heart, but what she had to do now hurt her even more. Carefully, she touched his eyelid with her fingertips. A sharp intake of breath, then Zuko seemed to understand what she was doing. "NO! DON'T!"

"I'm sorry, Zuko", she whispered, pressed a hand over her mouth and then forced his eye open. She bended with a determination she had rarely felt before.

"STOP!" he yelled, sobbing, anguish evident in every breath and every scream. "PLEASE!" It broke her heart to hear this proud, strong warrior, prince, boy begging. "PLEASE! STOP! PLEASE! NO! IT HURTS!" But she couldn't, oh, she couldn't, and it would be over soon, they were almost out. "PLEASE STOP! STOP DOING THIS TO ME!"

Tears clouded Katara's eyes, but she did not yield to his wish. Everything inside of her wanted to end his torment, and the only way to accomplish this was to get rid of the small splinters.

With the realization that he was lost in his pain came the realization that his mind was mixing together every single painful event from the past in an attempt to somehow deal with this agony that was beyond anything Zuko had ever felt before. He begged with Katara, with Azula, with Azulon, with Ozai, with life, with his mother, with Agni, with himself, for mercy, for release, for anything that would not hurt anymore.

Through his pain, Zuko did not feel the splinters leaving his eye, nor did he feel his good eye being healed, too. He still screamed when new bandages were wrapped around his head, and he gave in to more sobbing when he was lifted onto the bed once more. Cool water took care of the raw skin where he had fought the restraints, but that was an ache he had not even felt. Zuko didn't notice the time passing, just lying in bed, sobbing and screaming and in so much pain still, an agony that would fade over the following night, but fading later didn't lessen the intensity of it right now. He was never alone in the room. Someone would always be there, whispering soothing words, holding his hands, stroking his hair or his back, comforting and supporting. They'd take turns, but he would never notice until finally, he slipped into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

You might have considered him lonely.

The way he stood there, naked and bleeding from empty eye sockets, he did seem quite forlorn.

But then you would notice the throne room in the background fading and people surrounding him. Only then would you see him smiling through the pain.

Despite everything, you might have considered him better off than the handsome boy he had been.

* * *

_TBC..._

_Phew, that was Chapter 7! Quite a ride, don't you think?_

_Thank you for reading. Please leave a review!_

_Yours,  
Inkcharm_


	8. Scab

**Title:** Twilight's Edge  
**Author: **Inkcharm  
**Summary:** An innocent training session goes horribly wrong for Zuko. – Over time wounds might heal. Some of them throw us off balance for the longest time.  
**Warnings:** Post-TBR, blood, angst, mild swearing  
**Disclaimer:** The TV show "Avatar - The Last Airbender" does not belong to me, nor do its characters or anything related to the show. I make no profit out of this story, it is written merely for fun and entertainment of other fans.  
**Part:** 8/9  
**A/N:** I started writing this before Book 3 Ep 16 aired, so any canon-events happening after The Boiling Rock might be ignored for the sake of the storyline.

* * *

**Twilight's Edge**  
_Chapter 8: Scab_

On the third day, they started discussing the matter.

„So, Zuko is still refusing to talk?"

Katara sat down to dinner with the others. Three days had passed since she had removed the shards, and the stubborn prince had allowed no more contact than what was required for her to treat his eyes every morning and evening. He wouldn't talk to anyone, but Katara thought she knew the reasons behind his peculiar behaviour.

When she had pulled the splinters and particles from his eyes three days ago, Zuko had been in a horrible lot of pain. It had driven him beyond some edge within himself, so he had done the only thing he could in order to cope: he had broken down. Sobbing and screaming, the proud firebender had started begging for mercy, but not only with Katara, and not only concerning the pain he was currently in; it had been as though everything that had gone wrong in his life, everything that had caused him pain and grief until that very day had come back as he lay there, thrashing and hurting.

Zuko had begged with Katara to stop removing the splinters, but he had also addressed members of his family, begging his father not to burn him, his mother not to leave, his sister to stop deceiving and using him, his uncle for forgiveness, and Agni for mercy. In those horrible moments, he had laid himself bare before everyone present, and they had gotten a glimpse of the haunting secrets he kept safely locked within himself.

Worst of all, though, was that Zuko seemed fully aware of having said those things, and now he had decided that the only possible way of facing everyone after spilling his secrets was to refuse any attempts to talk about it.

They had even sent Toph in, who had emerged, hours later, without so much as a scorched eyebrow, but boiling with anger herself, because even she had not been able to get a single word out of Zuko.

None of them would have guessed these things about him. On some level, they had figured Zuko to be a pretty spoiled prince when it came down to it until that day, and it would never have occurred to any of them that, growing up, he had to pay for all the privileges with just as much pain. It was a horrible thought that once again shifted their views of the world. Zuko might never have been a completely innocent victim in this war, but he had been a victim nonetheless.

"We need to get him to talk." Katara sighed. "I just can't think of any new attempts. We have already tried everything there is to try in order to get him to confide in us."

Everyone was silently contemplating until Suki, glancing around, decided to speak. "Why?"

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Did you just ask why we should get Zuko to open up?"

"No." Suki shook her head. "I mean, yes, actually. So what if he doesn't want to talk about these things? Shouldn't we show him that although we know, we're not about to let him drown in yet another wave of pity?"

Toph felt that she had to agree. "I told you before that he doesn't like to be mothered. Sparky's proud and strong. He doesn't like the fact that everyone around here knows what he's been through."

"So, what do you suggest?" Katara huffed. "Are we supposed to behave as though we didn't know or care about all those things he keeps bottled up inside of him?"

"I think that's exactly what we should do."

Katara threw up her hands. "I can't believe you, Suki! Don't you see that he needs help in dealing with this?"

"No." Suki's gazed wandered towards the Temple's entrance. "Actually, I see that he is trying to keep those particular doors locked. Do you really think it would be a good idea to force him to open up further? Zuko doesn't want to. Everyone wants to keep some part of their life private." A shadow seemed to pass over Suki's face, then she smiled slightly and squeezed Sokka's hand. "I think we should wait for him to come to us in his own time. Until then, let's show him that we are not going to pressure him any further."

Reluctantly, even Katara had to agree to Suki's reasoning. Maybe in her desire to prove that she was not a bad person after having harmed Zuko so horribly, Katara had let herself be swept up in doing something good for him to an extent that had pushed Zuko further away. She decided that she would back off and give him all the time he needed to decide whether or not he was ready to share his demons openly.

Her blue eyes came to rest on Suki. And what had that been about? Where there any demons the Kyoshi warrior herself was not willing to share? Katara met her father's gaze, and she could see the concern mixing with his usual pride for both his children and the girl his son had chosen.

Sometimes Katara found it helpful to remind herself that the she was not the only victim in this war.

"So" Hakoda began after sipping some of his drink. "Where is The Duke?"

* * *

It was on the fourth day that Zuko's left eye turned a milky white colour with just the slightest hint of a golden iris.

Katara froze in motion when she saw it, her hands still holding the bandage she had just taken off to examine how the healing was progressing hovering in mid-air. "I…"

"I know."

Those were the first words he had said to her ever since her attempts to heal him. Katara's hands were shaking slightly.

"The other eye seems to be doing fine, though", Katara offered, her voice shaking.

They did not speak any more than that. After all, what else was there to be said?

* * *

On the fifth day, Zuko groaned when the door opened a few hours before Katara would usually come to check up on him. He knew exactly who was invading his kingdom of silent misery once again. Ever since the shards had been removed, The Duke had come to visit each and every day. He would sneak in after breakfast, right before lunch, right after lunch, and for hours after dinner.

Zuko, of course, never said a word during these visits, but The Duke did not seem to mind. He just talked, babbling about this and that, and the Fire Prince was not quite humbled enough by all that had transpired to admit, even to himself, that he would miss the chatter should The Duke not visit again.

But there was really no need to let anyone know, not even himself.

Stubbornly, Zuko refused to join the talk. Not that The Duke minded, though. There were no awkward silences simply because the young boy trampled any pauses to death with more words.

It had proven just the tiniest bit useful even. While the boy talked, Zuko tried his new technique of feeling for the heat or the lack of it. It helped to improve his skill and take his mind off the pain, which had, quite frankly, told him that it was willing to lessen but would not leave him alone for a while yet.

"And then Aang just kind of thrust his arm like this…"

The Duke copied the motion, his arm shooting out somewhere above Zuko. The firebender didn't even think, but grabbed the boy's wrist instead. For a second, there was silence. Zuko himself was utterly stunned. He was still wearing the bandage until Katara told him to remove it – yes, past experience had taught him well – but he had not fumbled or guessed the position of the wrist. He had grabbed it just as surely as if he had seen it.

Because, he realized, he _had_ seen it as clearly as any picture that could be looked upon. A streak of warmth in a field of cooler air. He could make out no details, of course, but the difference in temperature slowly but surely became something he didn't need to reach out towards. The more he lay in the dark, the more attuned he became to the temperature outside the dark void that was his world beneath the bandage.

Zuko smirked.

The Duke blinked. And then he just threw himself into another rambling.

For a while, Zuko listened, but something was bubbling inside of him. A tension, a tingling, an itch deep within his chest, his throat, his mouth, and finally words spilled out without asking for permission first.

"Have you ever lost something that you didn't really need, on the contrary, it was more of a hindrance, useless, maybe even painful, but you still found yourself missing it?"

Thinking, The Duke scratched his chin. He wrinkled his nose and screwed up his face. Then he just grinned broadly. "All the time." There was a strange sort of catch in his voice, so strange in fact that Zuko decided not to inquire further.

Three hours later, Katara stood in front of the firebender's room, hand raised towards the door's handle, but not touching it. She had not meant to eavesdrop, of course, and felt a flush of embarrassment when she found that still she was standing there, straining to hear what was being said.

It seemed that Zuko and The Duke had been talking for quite some time. Weirdly enough, the current topic obviously revolved around swords and fighting techniques.

"But you could heat the blade itself and make it super-hot!" came The Duke's voice, muffled.

Zuko actually seemed to consider the suggestion for a while. "I don't think it would work. The metal would melt or the very least lose its solidness."

Some silence. Then, almost hesitantly: "I guess that would be a bad idea, then."

There was something in Zuko's voice that made Katara believe he was feeling guilty. A slight catch in his breath, a pause. She knew he was licking his lips. It was a nervous gesture, one that he wasn't aware of. "Not… bad. Your intentions were good."

"Why are good intentions never good enough?"

There was no response, but that was worse than anything Zuko could have said. Slowly, Katara backed away from the door. Good intentions were a bad topic. Good intentions were what had brought them all into this mess.

She would check up on Zuko later today. Now, though, Katara would have to ponder the situation for a while. She needed to think about some things. Most of all, she needed to hide her tears of shame.

* * *

On the sixth day, Katara talked to her father about good intentions. His words, she knew, would stay with her forever, for they touched something in her.

"It's natural, Katara, to do something with the best intentions in mind and still have it result in disaster. Imagine a hunter wanted to catch an animal to feed his starving family. He might set a deadly trap so as to be sure to have something on the table for dinner. But now imagine he didn't watch the trap too closely and another human being walked into it. Might have been another hunter, the only man to feed another family. Still, now he's dead and there is nothing you can do about it. But does that make the first hunter a bad person?"

For a while Katara pondered the situation. "He only wanted his family to survive. And still, with all the effort he made, they had nothing to eat and someone else was also dead. I'd say his intentions were really good, but he failed to find the right means to his ends."

"But what are the right means? Sometimes we cannot foresee the consequences of our actions. Sometimes we cannot even clearly distinguish good from bad. What if you end up doing the right thing, but did it for all the wrong reasons? What if you end up doing the wrong thing, but you did it for all the right reasons? We like to tell ourselves that the world is black and white. It isn't."

They sat in silence for a long time.

"You mean to say that Zuko is not a bad person." Katara frowned, thinking hard. "You mean to say that he did some bad stuff alright, but he did it with good reasons considering his past. That he could not foresee where his steps would take him in the end."

She sighed, combed her hair. Hakoda was right, of course. And not only that, the same concepts applied to her as well. She shouldn't wreck herself with guilt over what she did. Doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Good intentions and bad means to fulfil them. It was time she made up with Zuko and prepared to start anew with him.

"Thanks, Dad."

With those words she rushed off.

Hakoda stayed seated, watching nothing in particular, arms crossed and eyebrows pulled together. It took a few minutes until Suki jumped from the platform above, where she had been sunbathing. The Kyoshi warrior slumped next to the older man and shifted her gaze to the direction Katara had dashed off to.

"You didn't actually mean to say any of the things she took your words to be, huh?"

Hakoda's eyes were serious. "No. But that is what being a father is all about. Your children need to think that you have all the answers. And if they come to a realization you better let them believe it was your intention all along." With his index finger he touched the tip of his nose. "That, my dear, is the whole trick."

Suki snorted with laughter. "Yeah, I can see how that would not work for Sokka." And then she blushed as Hakoda raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I mean to say. If Sokka ever. Were he to ever have. I mean. Speaking hypothetically. Well."

"The second trick", Hakoda explained gently, as he took Suki's hand and gave it a squeeze. "is to make your child's chosen mate feel as though she had said something wrong, just to see her off balance for a bit. It's also important to help her back onto her feet after." A gentle smile played on his lips. "I wouldn't worry about Sokka. He's going to have an amazing wife. And she'll kick his butt from North to South and back again if need be."

A smile bloomed on Suki's face once more. It was nice to know that she had a family now.

* * *

The pain had softened to a dull throbbing by the end of the week. He could keep the bandage off for a few hours without the pain returning, and he could really see with his right eye once more.

It was still early; the sun had not yet crawled over the horizon. Gently, he stroked the curved double blades with his fingers, one golden and one milky white eye fixed on some point in the distance.

Zuko knew that he was off balance. He had tried a few bending forms earlier, a few sword figures. Something was off, though. He kept flinching to the right, for he could not know what was going on left of his face. It was most irritating. Another hindrance. Zuko's mood was of such a sour nature that morning that he found himself wishing Katara had blinded him completely instead of just taking away half his sight.

Of course, the feeling was just a fleeting depression. He had experienced it before, when his father had burned his face, that anger with life bitterness taking over, dragging a black cloth over the world. He would get over it in time, step by step, throwing himself into one obsession or the other. That was how he got so tangled up in finding the Av-… in finding Aang. That was how he got so tangled up in destroying his own life. But then again, it brought him a little good in the end, right?

Because no matter the hardships, there are things no one can take away again, despite the pain and the loss and the constant struggle with the good people. Things like Toph's rough friendship, The Duke's innocent support, Suki's warm smiles and Sokka's high-pitched laughter. Things like Hakoda's comforting smile and Aang's affectionate gestures.

Things like Katara's soft words last night.

"We can't be friends yet. But I am willing to try. Can you give me another chance? Can I prove to you that I can be your ally as you are trying to prove to us? I know these are but good intentions. We both know that good intentions aren't always good enough. So we'll both just have to try as hard as we might. The results don't need to be perfect. They just need to be as good as you and me can manage."

They'd probably never be friends. But, one day, they might just find themselves willing and able to forgive each other, to look past what had happened and stand side by side in the battles yet to come, to have each other's back. Maybe they'd learn to trust one another, and maybe they'd learn to function while being around each other.

Agni knew they both deserved some semblance of peace in here, what with the bloodshed going on all around them. Zuko still wasn't about to talk to the others about his feelings, not yet anyway, but he felt just about ready to move towards the others once again. After all, he had managed without crying himself to sleep last night. It was a tiny step in the right direction.

So Zuko slowly breathed in and out, and slid back into a fighting stance, his blades ready. Slowly he closed his eyes, drenching the world in darkness, heat radiating from his body, invisible tendrils to guide his every step. Zuko moved, the swords cutting through the air, slashing and spinning and moving.

On the seventh day, Zuko regained his balance.

* * *

_TBC...._


End file.
